VALHALLA – The New York Medical College (NYMC) Center of Excellence in Precision Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters will receive $1,000,000 from New York State, a major increase in funding for the program. New York State has continued to increase its financial support for the Center from an initial annual pledge of $500,000 in 2017 and $925,000 in 2019, a sum that is matched by NYMC in support of the expanding work and impact of the Center.
In 2017, NYMC and New York State, with the support of Westchester County’s state legislators and policymakers, created the Center of Excellence in Precision Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters within the school’s Center for Disaster Medicine. The Center of Excellence in Precision Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters, the first of its kind in New York and a unique civilian resource nationally, conducts research, informs the public, and provides training for mass casualty incidents, natural disaster events, and terrorism situations. It is funded through the New York State Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation (NYSTAR) Program. This program, administered by Empire State Development, is designed to provide innovative and technologically advanced training and education to the workforce in New York State.
“I am proud of all the work being done at New York Medical College’s Center for Disaster Medicine, the only Center for Excellence in the Hudson Valley, and thank my colleagues in the Senate for joining me to help fund this vital institution,” said New York State Senator Pete Harckham. “The Center teaches state of the science strategies to address natural, chemical and biological threats, which it has shared with countless collaborative partners in the region. Its disaster training programs benefit medical professionals and first responders across the state, making our communities safer as a result.”
