Page 23 - 2022 Westchester County Economic Development Guide

Development, will establish how to cure stroke disability. This effort, like Dr. Gibson’s grant, involves several institutions much larger than BNI and once more demonstrates that small size can actually be a benefit to help drive innovation in clinical science.
Breakthroughs in macular degeneration assessment.
The leading causes of vision loss in the United States are age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. Treatments thus far have only been successful for certain subtypes of retinal diseases. Significant additional progress will require methods to rapidly assess vision loss at its earliest stages, especially in individuals who cannot communicate. At BNI, Glen Prusky and his team have been using technology borrowed from the government Star Wars program to develop novel proprietary software that allows rapid testing of vision loss in less than five minutes without requiring the patient to utter a word. This technology has been patented by BNI, and a licensing agreement is in place with Novasight, an Israeli digital health company.
The problem of pain.
In the United States, at least 116 million adults suffer from chronic pain, with an associated cost exceeding $500 billion per year. A common treatment – opioid analgesics – carry substantial risks, including physical dependence,
“We are not large, but this reminds us that breakthroughs in science can come from anywhere – size and seniority don’t guarantee success. With good science, you can make a difference whether you’re a graduate student or a Nobel laureate.” —Rajiv R. Ratan MD, PhD
addiction, and fatal poisoning. In addition, they are largely ineffective for many types of chronic pain caused by damage or injury to nerves. At BNI and Weill Cornell, Drs. Dianna Willis (BNI) and Peter Goldstein (Weill Cornell) have outlined the optimization of a novel non-narcotic small molecule for the treatment of neuropathicpain.Thisnovel,non-opiate drug has fostered the development of a for-profit company and has secured industry–academic partnership grants from the NIH.
A new treatment for concussion.
The estimates for the prevalence of disability from concussion vary widely, at between 2 and 4 million Americans. Treatments are emerging, but they all require expensive and cumbersome equipment. Leveraging the intellectual property developed at BNI, Neuronasal Inc. is moving forward with a novel treatment for concussion that can be administered to anyone to deliver intranasal N acetylcysteine wherever needed to halt secondary damage from concussive injury.
Why Westchester is an ideal location for BNI.
Being in Westchester offers us the best of all worlds. You can afford more space, the schools are great, and we enjoy
access to the greatest city in the world – without suffering all the challenges. The sky is the limit for recruiting. Since 2003, when I joined BNI, we’ve increased our NIH funding by 600%, our number of employees has grown from 34 to 110, and the number of Cornell faculty at BNI has increased from 8 to 23. In the past six years we’ve received more grant money from the New York State Department of Health Spinal Cord Injury Research Program than any medical school in the state, as well as a $5 million grant from the Empire State Development Corporation. We also enjoy a good relationship with Westchester’s Office of Economic Development, in particular Deborah Novick.
BNI’s outsized contributions.
Separately, each of these advancements I have described would represent a signature accomplishment for institutions that are tens to hundreds of times larger than BNI. That’s why I like to say that we punch above our weight. We are not large, but this reminds us that breakthroughs in science can come from anywhere – size and seniority don’t guarantee success. With good science, you can make a difference whether you’re a graduate student or a Nobel laureate.
Opposite, Top: The Burke Neurological Institute Team
Opposite, Bottom: Rajiv R. Ratan, MD, PhD Left: The BNI campus in White Plains, NY
WESTCHESTER COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 21
© Courtesy of Burke Neurological Institute
© Courtesy of Burke Neurological Institute