Big boost for cancer research

Grumman Aerospace didn’t start as a giant that would help the United States win World War II and put humans on the moon.

Instead, it began with workers who welded aluminum tubing and repaired small planes. But as it grew, the pieces were in place for the company — and Long Island — to contribute to science and discovery in ways that would change the world.

In the decades since Grumman’s demise, Long Island has searched for its “next” Grumman — the next big success story that would take the region to new heights.

Now, it seems, the building blocks are in place for what might just be Long Island’s next opportunity to innovate, discover, and use those innovations and discoveries for good.

Those pieces of Long Island’s ever-expanding research corridor are part of the legacy of philanthropist James Simons, who died Friday. Among the institutions Simons and his wife, Marilyn, supported was Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, whose board of trustees Marilyn Simons chairs. The lab, one of the Island’s oldest research institutions, has long been part of significant scientific breakthroughs. But its newest effort could take on an even larger challenge: the fight against pancreatic cancer.

$30M RESEARCH CENTER

Cold Spring Harbor Lab is building a $30 million research center specifically focused on pancreatic cancer, to house the research and the clinical applications needed to tackle the deadly disease. Pancreatic cancer is particularly virulent because it lacks early detection screening and symptoms often don’t appear until it has advanced. Its five-year survival rate is just 13%. The American Cancer Society estimates that 66,440 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed this year, and 51,750 people will die from the disease.

Now, Gov. Kathy Hochul has boosted the effort to combat this disease by having the state contribute $15 million toward the Cold Spring Harbor center, which also receives funds from the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research in Woodbury, which was started by the family of Newsday owner Patrick Dolan.

The center is one of many pieces now falling into place. Cold Spring Harbor Lab is undertaking a broader $500 million expansion, and hopes to hire 150 additional scientists. Regional advocates hope this effort will encourage the growth of other research, the establishment of new businesses, and additional economic and scientific opportunities across the region.

Cold Spring Harbor Lab, however, can’t stand alone. That’s why the extension of its partnership with Northwell Health is critical. The partnership offers Northwell’s medical students and fellows a chance to train with Cold Spring Harbor Lab and the lab’s scientists an opportunity to study Northwell patients’ tumor samples. It also involves Northwell’s own research arm, the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research.

Add to that another exciting development for Long Island’s research corridor: the cell- and gene-research hub now planned for a 15-acre parcel in Lake Success. Hochul is also awarding one such hub in western New York, to be located in Buffalo, and is providing up to $150 million for the Lake Success effort, which will include a business incubator and additional research opportunities.

SCIENCE JUGGERNAUT

Each of these steps on its own is significant. When combined with Long Island’s Broadhollow Bioscience Park and the extraordinary opportunities available through Brookhaven National Lab’s planned electron-ion collider, the Island has the chance to become a science juggernaut, a place defined by discovery and innovation and propelled by its intellectual capital, a region that could become home to great achievements, particularly in the world of cancer research, which still awaits new breakthroughs in diagnosis, treatment and, yes, a cure.

Now, those breakthroughs could happen here.

Long Island must capitalize on this moment. There’s a role for everyone. The state’s funding of our new labs, and the choice of Long Island for new hubs, is an excellent start. But elected officials must make sure the region gets additional attention and funding from state and federal entities to upgrade transportation and other infrastructure to meet the needs of new facilities, and to prioritize state and federal research funding so the work can continue and grow.

Schools can establish stronger partnerships with the region’s research laboratories, top hospitals and business incubators to benefit high school and college students and prepare them for jobs of the future. Business executives and entrepreneurs can push for the networking and connectivity needed to turn research into commercial success. And local leaders need to overcome their partisan and parochial divides to welcome economic development, including housing and research facilities, that will be needed to attract the talent we need.

Long Island too often is characterized as a byzantine blend of provincial neighborhoods. Regional thinking and attention to the Island’s research corridor could help reshape the Island’s economic landscape. Simons’ generosity reflected that opportunity — and now the region must carry it forward.

This is no longer only about the glory of individual institutions. It’s no longer only about the creation of new jobs, or the addition of new labs.

It’s certainly all of those things. But if we get this right, the work that’s done here could save millions of lives and Long Island could once again change the world.