$15M Upstate Cord Blood Bank Opens in Syracuse, NY

On February 9, 2017, Upstate Cord Blood Bank in Syracuse, NY, opened its doors. The planning and construction was a lengthy process and cost $15 million.

The project origins go back to 2006 when the center was first proposed. Unfortunately, state funding for the project was delayed in 2008 due to economic conditions, and the build out of the cord blood bank was further delayed when design changes were implemented during construction. Senator John DeFrancisco had a pivotal role in securing state funding for the cord blood bank.

Fortunately, the public cord blood bank is now active and has collected its first publicly donated unit at the two-story facility that contains 20,000 ft² of laboratory and storage space.

While the bank is currently a public cord blood bank, it plans to expand into private (“family”) cord blood banking services, allowing cells to be stored for individual family use. Technically, this will make it a “hybrid” public-private bank.

According to Dr. Nicholas Greco, Cord Blood Bank Director at Upstate Cord Blood Bank, the center also plans to play an important role as a cell manufacturing center, supplying cord blood units to other transplant centers conducting clinical trials. This activity will support regenerative medicine advances, that could in turn, support broader therapeutics applications for the donated cord blood.

The site of the cord blood bank is Upstate Cord Blood Bank, 4910 Broad Road, Syracuse, NY 13215.

To learn more, visit Upstate Cord Blood Bank.