Feb 03, 2014 08:52 AM EST By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

University of Buffalo (UB) has received a gift of $5 million from the John R. Oishei Foundation to help the construction of the New School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

The $375-million high-tech medical school in downtown Buffalo will comprise of state-of-the-art medical technologies, labs and classrooms to teach and train physicians. The construction is scheduled to be completed by 2016. The costs will be supported by private philanthropy and state support, including donation provided by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo through the NYSUNY 2020 legislation.

James Wadsworth, chair of the Oishei Foundation board, said that school will strengthen the campus, enhance regional economic growth and revamp downtown Buffalo's urban vitality. The school aims to offer a true academic health center to the region with best medical research, education and patient care.

"The Oishei Foundation recognizes the new UB medical school as a game-changing addition to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. It will redefine our region as a hub for the very best in health care," Oishei Foundation President Robert D. Gioia said in a statement.  "With this gift, we join UB as fellow catalysts for change that will dramatically enhance our community's economic vitality and quality of life."

Nancy H. Nielsen, senior associate dean for health policy at the medical school, said that the private philanthropy is vital in completing the medical school. The university officials are planning to gather $50 million in private funds.

 "We thank the Oishei Foundation for its generous gift and look forward to working with the foundation to establish Buffalo as an academic health center and a top health care destination," President Satish K. Tripathi said. "Throughout its history, the foundation has consistently invested in improving education and health care, and this gift does both. This gift will have a profound impact on this priority project for our university."

Michael Cain, vice president for health sciences and dean of the medical school, welcomed the Oishei Foundation's participation in "shaping a bold era of progress, discovery and promise for the medical school."

"This important gift will accelerate creation of the region's first and only academic health center," said Cain, noting that such centers typically consist of a medical school, a faculty practice, teaching hospitals, a significant research enterprise and one or more clinical centers of excellence.

"The academic health center will offer unprecedented clinical, research and educational opportunities for our faculty and students," he said. "It also will help improve the health of people who live in Western New York and beyond, as Buffalo develops into a destination for innovative approaches to clinical care and treatment."

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