Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced the approval of a $10 million investment to jumpstart the creation of the SUNY Brain Institute at campuses statewide, including Binghamton University.

The institute will help expand neuroscience research by funding research infrastructure and equipment at certain higher education institutions with large neuroscience research output, including SUNY’s four university centers, SUNY Upstate Medical University, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and other research-focused campuses. The institute will promote collaborative research in areas like brain aging, mental health, neurodegenerative disorders and neurotechnology.

“The SUNY Brain Institute will leverage all of the strengths of our statewide public higher education system by increasing our researchers’ capacity for new discoveries and life-saving treatments,” Hochul said in an Oct. 10 press release. “This is a smart, strategic investment in neuroscience research that will improve lives.”

Funding for the program comes from money allocated toward SUNY in the 2025-2026 state budget, which was approved after a year-long process that began with researchers in psychology and neuroscience departments, including at the University, pitching the idea for a new research institute.

Many projects already underway at SUNY schools will receive a portion of this allocated funding, including a University at Albany study on the progression of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and the effects of circadian rhythms on learning and memory. SUNY Upstate Medical is also conducting research on restoring eyesight and finding cures for certain conditions that cause vision degradation.

Christopher Bishop, professor and director of BU’s undergraduate integrative neuroscience program, wrote that SUNY hopes to incentivize collaborations between SUNY campuses while increasing research output throughout the system.

One ongoing study at the University is exploring how electrical engineering can be used to further research for neurological diseases like Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

“As a neuroscientist who studies Parkinson’s disease, I’ve been very interested in seeing a greater emphasis on SUNY collaborations,” wrote Bishop. “My home department in psychology has a big group of behavioral and cognitive neuroscientists so we’ve been updated by those on the SUNY-wide committee as the institute has taken shape.”

Marvin Diaz, professor of psychology and behavioral neuroscience area head, said concepts for the Brain Institute are still being formulated. One idea is for the Institute to be a conceptual entity in which all SUNY neuroscience programs will participate, allowing students and researchers to come together to have conversations about neuroscience and psychology research. Other potential proposals include the construction of physical facilities at certain campuses that any SUNY researcher could use, benefiting universities that have less funding, equipment or resources.

Bishop and Diaz said they were excited that the SUNY Brain Institute can help collaboration between the SUNY schools and assist in the University’s research.

“We hope that this will also not just put SUNY on the map but also highlight Binghamton as a primary entity in the neuroscience research community,” said Diaz.