From overnight face-lifts to treating menstrual cramps, the Clinical Science and Research Center (CSERC) focuses on developing new technologies to aid in clinical healthcare research.

The CSERC was launched in 2006 and is located in the Innovative Technologies Complex (ITC) at Binghamton University. It works to develop new protocols to address chronic healthcare issues, and is an interdisciplinary clinic available for faculty members and students who want to do clinical studies.

The Center is not limited to a particular department or students of specific majors. Over the past year, 17 clinical studies were initiated by the CSERC. Faculty and students have created and patented numerous technologies with the primary focus of finding preventative measures and treatments for chronic health conditions.

The CSERC is largely funded by companies interested in seeing their technology commercialized, which costs around $40,000 to fund the graduate students working on a project. All new technologies are reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB), which is made up of faculty from all across campus. They evaluate the safety of a trial, and their approval is mandatory to publish results.

Kenneth McLeod serves as the director of the Center and became the entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) in 2013. As the EIR, McLeod’s job is to help commercialize technology developed at BU and launch graduate students’ new ventures based on the technologies they developed in their theses. McLeod focuses on creating new firms to commercialize technologies, but also licenses new technology to established firms.

Sree Koneru, the director of engineering research for a bioelectronics corporation, is working with CSERC in his start-up venture, Bioelectronics Inc. He is creating a pulsed shortwave therapy, which uses low-energy electromagnetic fields to improve healing. He focuses on stimulating nerves to regulate blood pressure without using any drugs, a project he started in 2012.

According to Koneru, high and low blood pressure affects over 10 million Americans. Koneru said that the Center as a whole tries to keep its research broad; their research covers anything from products that aid in menstrual cramps to cosmetics.

“The cool part of the technology is it ranges from electromagnetic face-lifts, or overnight face-lifts, to a faster healing of scars, to other chronic healthcare conditions,” Koneru said.

The study is predicted to be completed in February, at which point Koneru will approach the FDA to get the necessary protocols to market the technology.

Matthew Ehrlich, a junior double-majoring in mathematics and chemistry who conducts research at the ITC, said that the Center allows for open research and discussion of clinical topics, which provides opportunities to make progress in the medical field.

“I feel that this Center will have a very positive impact on both the medical field and the research environment of the University,” Ehrlich said. “I don’t know of many labs on campus that deal directly with medical research, so this lab seems like a much-needed and really important addition to the University.”

For other students like Sarin Grey, an undeclared sophomore, the Research Center is something that they are interested in, despite not knowing it existed.

“I didn’t know about the Center, but after being informed about it, I think that it is a great feature of the ITC,” Grey said. “It’s cool that they do research on things that affect people my age.”