Fuse 2006 Conference Continues to Attract World-Class Experts, Private & Public Leaders Focused on Accelerating Technology-Enabled Business Growth in Upstate NY

Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll Will Deliver fuse2006 Luncheon Keynote on September 20th. Incoming Cornell University President David Skorton will join panel on Technology and Talent.

Thursday, July 27th, 2006 (Syracuse, NY) The fuse2006 conference continues to attract world-class experts as well as private and public leaders who are focused on making accelerated business growth in the Upstate New York region a reality. Dr. David Skorton, the new president of Cornell University, has accepted the invitation of Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor to participate in the September 19th fuse2006 "Technology, Talent and Our Future" panel of which Dr. Cantor will be the moderator. On September 20, Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll will deliver a fuse2006 luncheon keynote focusing on the importance of technology and talent as enablers of business growth for Syracuse and Upstate New York.

Another member of the Cornell University community, Dr. Larry Walker, will be participating in the "Fueling the Future" panel. Dr. Walker, a Cornell professor of biological and environmental engineering, is also director of the Northeast Sun Grant Institute of Excellence, based at Cornell, which serves 14 states and the District of Columbia, from Maine to Maryland to Michigan. In September 2005, Cornell University was tapped by the federal government as one of five Sun Grant Centers of Excellence - regional hubs that are taking the lead in researching the use of plant biomass in energy and chemical production.

Joining Dr. Walker on the "Fueling the Future" panel will be Dr. Gay Canough, president, ETM Solar, an Endicott, NY-based company that specializes in solar energy systems. Dr. Canough is also treasurer of the New York Solar Energy Industries Association and is an instructor for over 40 Solar Installer courses.

A recent report published by IBM, titled "Personalized Healthcare 2010" stated, "As this decade progresses, next generation medical science technology and capabilities, enabled by increasingly 'smarter' information technology, will change the discovery, development and delivery of new treatments even more dramatically. The question put forth was, "Are you ready for information-based medicine?"

In an address at MIT, Kenan Sahin, CEO, TIAX LLC and renowned expert on the commercialization of new technologies, stated that "It is very likely that cures for many diseases, including cancer, as well as products that will transform our lives and radically improve our environment, have already been discovered in our nation's universities. If industries and universities work together more effectively we can turn these innovations into the next wave of economic growth and, more importantly, make a difference in the quality of life worldwide."

J. David Liss, Vice President of Government Relations and Strategic Initiatives, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, will serve as the moderator of the September 20th fuse2006 Personalized Healthcare panel. New York-Presbyterian Hospital is one of the most comprehensive university hospitals in the world, with leading specialists in every field of medicine. This hospital is composed of two renowned medical centers, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and affiliated with two Ivy League medical institutions, Columbia University of Physicians &Surgeons and Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

Participating on the Personalized Healthcare panel will be Dr. Martin Hickey, Senior Vice President of Health Care Affairs, Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, which has its headquarters in Rochester, NY. In his Excellus position, Dr. Hickey oversees the activities of the health plan medical directors; development of medical policy; quality improvement initiatives; disease management and health promotion programs, along with the health care provider and pharmacy network management teams. Dr. Hickey's role also includes enhancing and developing new programs to improve disease management and health care cost containment.

Peter Winkelstein, M.D., Chair, Clinical and Scientific Informatics, Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo also will join the Personalized Healthcare panel. Faculty from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute are involved in The New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics &Life Sciences (CoE) along with faculty from two other primary research institutions, the University at Buffalo and the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute.

Dr. Winkelstein has an extensive clinical, academic and informatics background. He was Medical Director of two outpatient centers at the Children's Hospital of Buffalo for over 10 years, Director of Medical Informatics for the Department of Pediatrics and co-founded and directed the Advanced Certificate in Medical/Health Informatics in the School of Informatics.

"In interacting with senior executives, leaders in education and research, and thought leaders inside, as well as outside of Upstate New York, it is clear that there is a strong interest level to engage and collaborate around technology advancements and accelerating business growth," said Errol Unikel, fuse2006 executive director and senior advisor, "fuse2006 is gaining support as our regional signature event focusing on technology-enabled business growth. The dialog and expert inputs at fuse2006 and beyond will help identify the technology, talent, capital and strategies to drive business growth across the region."

In preparation for the two-day fuse2006 conference, the fuse initiative held two senior executive leadership forums on April 3 and May 9. In the future, fuse will hold two senior executive leadership forums each year. Additionally, the fuse initiative has launched the Emerging Business Forum (EBF), which is designed to provide small to medium-sized businesses with insights into growth strategies and tactics that will better enable them to grow their own businesses and contribute to more widespread growth in Upstate New York. The first emerging business "planning" forum was held Tuesday, July 25. A subsequent Emerging Business Forum is scheduled for Wednesday, November 8.

fuse2006 platinum sponsors include Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (www.clearchannel.com ); Strategic Computer Solutions, Inc. (SCS) (www.scsinet.com ); Syracuse Research Corporation (www.syrres.com ) and USA Datanet (www.usadatanet.com ).

fuse2006 gold sponsors include The Gifford Foundation (www.giffordfd.org ); Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce (www.syracusechamber.com ); Metropolitan Development Association of Central New York (www.mda-cny.com ); National Grid (www.nationalgrid.com ); Syracuse Technology Garden (www.syracusetechnologygarden.com ); Time Warner Cable (www.timewarnercable.com ); The Central New York Business Journal (www.cnybj.com ); WCNY (wcny.org ) and the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University (whitman.syr.edu ).

Visit the fuse2006 website at www.fuse2006.com for more detailed information about the September 19 &20 fuse2006 conference as well as the November 8 Emerging Business Forum and a full list of all of the fuse2006 Sponsors and Supporting Organizations. For questions about fuse2006 and the Emerging Business Forum, contact Errol Unikel, senior advisor for fuse2006, at 315-474-0910, x7917. To sponsor, participate or volunteer, email the fuse2006 team at info@fuse2006.com .