Recruitment Support: The NYU School of Medicine's institutional commitment to the Center has been outstanding since the last review of this Center five years ago. The School provided a three-year recruitment package, which allowed the recruitment of Dr. Judith Goldberg, the leader of the Environmental Health Statistics and Bioinformatics Facility Core. This package also allowed Dr. Goldberg to recruit two masters level biostatisticians and a project associate. In addition, the School provided funds for Dr. Goldberg to recruit Dr. I. Beliskaya-Levy and Dr. Y. Shao, new members of the Environmental Health Statistics and Bioinformatics Facility Core. In addition to the recruitment package provided for Dr. Goldberg, NYU School of Medicine provided a recruitment package for the recruitment of Dr. Chuanshu Huang, a new member of the Molecular Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Research Core. Dr. Huang also was the recipient of NIEHS Center Pilot Project funds, which has lead to his being awarded three NIH grants and two sub-contracts.

Equipment Support: In addition to faculty recruitment packages, NYU School of Medicine's institutional commitment to the Center is also found in the support it has given in providing specialized research equipment for our various facilities. The School of Medicine has been very forthcoming with support, and it is anticipated that the Department/Center will continue to receive this very important support from the School. The decision to purchase these pieces of equipment was initiated by center members who made recommendations to a Center equipment committee, which assigned a priority for these equipment purchases and this list was then passed on to the internal advisory committee and director for their final approval. Over the past five years, NYU School of Medicine has provided institutional support exceeding $1,000,000 in support of the research of our Department and Center.

In the past five years the School has provided funds for the following equipment:

• High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC): Our Analytical Services and Exposure Assessment Facility Core was provided with a Waters Breeze HPLC. The Breeze system incorporates either an isocratic or gradient pump system, a Waters 2487 UV/VIS detector, a Waters 2475 fluorescence detector and an autosampler. The Breeze system also provides flexibility for future addition of other detectors, including electrochemical and refractive index detectors. This system is capable of routinely separating and detecting both small molecule/analytes and proteins.
• Flow Cytometer: Flow Cytometry is a key equipment component that is most frequently used to investigate gene expression, cellular growth, differentiation, as well as cell apoptosis in cells response to environmental factors, such as chemical and metal carcinogens, radiation, and air pollution particles. In 2003, the School of Medicine purchased a Beckman Coulter Flow Cytometry (Model EPICS XL-MCL 4 color w/FlowCentre De) with a HP2250 color printer, 17" NEC flatscreen monitor, and EXPO32 va.lb ADC Cytometer software for our Center investigators at the Sterling Forest research facility. The equipment has the capability to analyze up to four flourochromes with a single air-cooled laser and has the flexibility required for diverse research applications. The purchase price of this equipment included installation, a one-year warranty, and a weeklong training program for a key operator, as well as on-site application support.
• Scintillation Counter: This equipment is essential to the research of all investigators in the Center for occasional routine wipe testing or for their day-to-day research. In addition, the availability of a working scintillation counter is crucial for following NYUSOM radiation safety guidelines and for mandated monitoring of the Center's laboratories and staff. Therefore, NYUSOM provided the funds for the purchase of a Perkin Elmer Minispectral LSC, with alpha/beta separation, computer, floor stand, 4 ml and 20 ml vial racks, rack modification adapters for Eppendorf and microcentrifuge tubes, and an extended warranty.
• Revco Ultima II: Our Women's Health Study research project in our Environmental Epidemiology Research Core was provided with a Revco Ultima II -86¡ upright freezer. This freezer was provided by the School as a backup unit for this large clinical research in order to protect samples should one of the main freezers fail at any time.
• Tuttnauer Autoclave: In 2002, the Laboratory Supplies and Services Facility Core acquired a new state-of-the-art Tuttnauer autoclave (Model 5596 ECP) purchased with institutional funds. This essential heavily used shared equipment replaced a 9-year-old Buxton autoclave that was in need of weekly repair.
• Video-Conferencing Equipment: In 2001 it became apparent that our videoconferencing capabilities needed to be improved. At our request, the School replaced our videoconferencing equipment with Polycom View stations and monitors at our Sterling Forest research facility and at our 650 First Avenue facility in Manhattan. This equipment is used several times a week for seminars and meetings, allowing employees from both sites to attend these functions without having to travel to-and-from the presentation site.
• Powerpoint Projectors and Computers: Our facilities in Manhattan and Sterling Forest were provided with equipment for PowerPoint presentations, lectures, and seminars by faculty, students and visitors using PowerPoint slides from a CD, DVD, or floppy disk. This equipment is used by our Center for its Enrichment Program where seminars can be presented between sites through our videoconferencing system. The School purchased a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop and 3100MP projector for our Manhattan and Sterling Forest research sites and an additional iBook for off-site presentations.
• PC and Mac Computers: NYU School of Medicine has also been proactive in ensuring that the Department of Environmental Medicine and, thus the Center, be in a positive position when new computer software is released. In 2003, the School provided us with two Dell Optiplex Pentium Processors and eight 1-Ghz eMac G4s for our computer facility in Sterling Forest and four 1-Ghz eMac G4s for our Project Associates located in Sterling Forest. The computer facility in Sterling Forest is a shared space used by Master and Ph.D. students, post docs, research scientists, technicians, and others who do not have office or lab space for their own computer. The School also purchased an 800 MHz iBook for the Administrative Manager of the Center. In addition, the School provided us with five Dell Optiplex computers for our employees in our Environmental Epidemiology Research Core and the Environmental Health Statistics and Bioinformatics Facility Core at 650 First Avenue, and two Dell Pentium 4 computers for our Molecular Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Research Core employees at the Public Health Laboratories, 8th Floor, First Avenue, in Manhattan.

Computer Facility at Sterling Forest: In response to our request for funds to provide a centralized location for all computer lab users to store their files, the School provided us funds to purchase a login server, Mac OS X Software, AppleShare IP Softare, and Microsoft Office V.X (Academic Ver.). This allows each user to be assigned his/her own login on the server from which they can access all their files and email no matter which computer (Mac or PC) they're using. It also allows tracking of printer usage, and permits users with dedicated systems to have disk space assigned to them for large projects and permits sharing of disk space for groups working on joint projects. The Microsoft Office software was installed on those systems in the computer lab and the department administrative offices that are running Mac OSX. In addition, the School allowed the purchase of a DHCP and DNS Server for assigning network addresses, and funds to purchase Asante Ethernet Switches to allow 72 more devices to be added in the facility, patch cables for Ethernet switches, and network wiring.

T1 Circuits: In 1998-1999, the School purchased an additional T1 circuit to further enhance the quality and quantity of the data, voice, and videoconferencing link between the Medical Center and the Sterling Forest Research Facility. This T1 circuit increased our voice, videoconferencing and data management capabilities. In 2003-2004, the School is purchasing three additional T1 lines that will allow us to have three dedicated data management T1 lines, and T1 lines for the voice and videoconferencing.

Infrastructural Support: Since our last renewal NYU School of Medicine has also provided funds for renovations at our Sterling Forest research facility. These renovations included:

Front Entrance: With the commencement of our 24/7 security service, came the requirement that all employees and visitors use the front entrance to the Sterling Forest facility. For the safety of these individuals, the School provided funds for a walkway from the upper parking lot to the entrance. This entrance was also brought into ADA compliance, thus providing us with two handicap entrances to the facility.

Walkway: A new walkway with lighting was provided for the safety of our employees and visitors who park in the lower parking lot of our Sterling Forest facility.

Floor Tile Replacement: Due to the composition of asbestos in the floor tiles in the hallway and laboratories of one of the 2nd floor wings at our Sterling Forest facility, the School provided funds for asbestos abatement and new floor covering for the facility.

Auditorium: The auditorium at the Sterling Forest site was originally built for an audience of over 150 people attending meetings. With the advancement of technology (videoconferencing) the need for such a large space was no longer required, but there was a need for additional meeting spaces. In recognizing the need to use the space in an economical way, the School provided the funds to renovate the auditorium into a smaller auditorium and a meeting area.

Offices: The Chairman/Center Director's office and conference room in Sterling Forest needed renovation in 2003. The School provided the cost for this renovation, which included the purchase of new office furniture for the Chairman/Center Director and his Executive Assistant. In addition, over the past 3 years there have been other renovations at our Sterling Forest facility, which included the renovation to create additional offices.

Cage Washer: A contract to purchase and install a new cage washer (Buxton) in the animal facility together with an improved layout, ventilation, and hot water supply has just been released and this construction will be completed in the first 5 months of 2004.