NEW YORK, June 8, 2010 – AMDeC, the Academy for Medical Development and Collaboration, today announced the launch of AMDeC F.I.R.S.T. (Facilities Instrumentation Resources Services Technologies), the first-ever comprehensive, real-time online registry and database of biomedical research technology and resources, now available for New York. With this new online Web-resource, researchers will not be limited by the core facilities offered at their own institution, but rather they will be able to review and to use the innovative technology resources hosted at what will soon be over 100 core facilities throughout the state. Biotech and pharmaceutical companies will also be able to purchase a subscription to AMDeC F.I.R.S.T. in order to identify biomedical resources available on a fee-for-service basis.
Accessible to AMDeC members and subscribers via the organization’s Web site, www.amdec.org, and secure password protected, AMDeC F.I.R.S.T. contains detailed listings of programs, high-tech instruments and services from 15 AMDeC member institutions that researchers can utilize for research projects. With the database updated in real-time, users have access to the latest information about core service facilities, including next-generation sequencing equipment. The 12,000 researchers of AMDeC’s member institutions and AMDeC F.I.R.S.T. subscribers now have a greater opportunity to take advantage of the top-notch instrumentations available in their region to further their research.
“Once again, AMDeC is at the forefront of inter-institutional collaboration with the F.I.R.S.T. initiative,” said Vivian S. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., professor of radiology, physiology and neurosciences, vice dean for science, senior vice president and chief scientific officer, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York. “We celebrate these efforts to bring our institutions closer together and to leverage our collective resources to help make New York one of the richest research environments in the country."
Wadie F. Bahou, M.D., professor of medicine/hematology and vice dean, State University of New York at Stony Brook University, added, “F.I.R.S.T. will serve as a highly-leveraged resource for promotion of scientific resource development throughout New York."
Using the variety of search options offered by F.I.R.S.T., researchers can locate descriptions of the technology, details about specific services, specific instrument model information and the points of contact for the core facilities at each institution. F.I.R.S.T also includes a central listing of members-only discounts and technology seminars that are part of AMDeC’s Vendor Partnership Program.
“This is the first online biomedical resource of its kind in the U.S.,” said Maria Mitchell, Ph.D., president and CEO of AMDeC. “AMDeC F.I.R.S.T. will become an important resource for biomedical scientists in New York, and eventually the entire Northeast, as we broaden the product offering. AMDeC is taking the lead with the F.I.R.S.T. resource exchange platform to further strengthen cross-institutional collaboration and to support the biomedical research community.”
For a demonstration of AMDeC F.I.R.S.T., please contact William Palumbo at williamp@amdec.org.
About AMDeC
AMDeC, the Academy for Medical Development and Collaboration, has brought together New York's world-renowned biomedical research institutions through programs that foster collaborative science through large scale, multi-institutional, interdisciplinary research, core scientific resources, and the sharing of ideas, capabilities and resources. For more information, visit www.amdec.org or send an e-mail to williamp@amdec.org.
