Arnold Levine Receives Freedom To Discover Grant From Bristol-Myers Squibb

Arnold J. Levine, Professor, The Simons Center for Systems Biology in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, has been awarded a $500,000 unrestricted Freedom to Discover grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company for cancer research.

The funds will support work being done over a five-year period in laboratories at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. In his research, Dr. Levine is investigating the fundamentals of cancer biology, focusing on a heritable single nucleotide polymorphism in a protein called MDM2, which may play a critical role in the formation and growth of cancers.

"It is wonderful that Bristol-Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical company, gives grant money under the banner of Freedom to Discover -- allowing scientists to use it to pursue research without restriction," Levine stated. "This grant is clearly in recognition for work previously done at The Simons Center for Systems Biology at the Institute for Advanced Study and at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in a collaborative mining of genomic information in order to improve health care."

Since 1977, the Freedom to Discover Unrestricted Biomedical Research Grants and Awards program, sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, has committed more than $120 million through 289 grants to more than 160 research institutions in 23 countries. This grant to Dr. Levine is one of a dozen Freedom to Discover unrestricted grants totaling $6 million awarded to support cutting-edge research in cancer, nutrition, neuroscience, cardiovascular, infectious and metabolic diseases and synthetic organic chemistry. The 12 scientists selected as administrators for the 2006 grants represent the best examples of leading edge research around the globe.

The Simons Center for Systems Biology at the Institute for Advanced Study, under the leadership of Dr. Levine, conducts research at the interface of molecular biology and the physical sciences. The Center hosts a range of distinguished Members and Visitors annually, and fosters original theoretical research in the fields of systems biology, most commonly utilizing genetic, molecular and evolutionary approaches, and in some cases, a focus upon understanding disease processes. The Center's existence creates opportunities for individuals working in systems biology to meet, hold seminars and symposia, collaborate in research and interact on a regular basis.

In addition to providing a stimulating environment for its Members and Visitors, the Center has close collaborations with the Cancer Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Lewis-Sigler Center for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University, and BioMaPS Institute at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. These partnerships help to extend and promote the necessary exchange and practice of ideas for future discoveries and strides in the field. As one of the leading centers for theoretical research in the sciences, the Institute is a natural home for biologists to visit and work, since life scientists increasingly require extensive skills in mathematics, physics, computer science and chemistry.