Deep technology teams from New York region institutions of higher learning were early adopters that participated in the original 2011-2012 national I-Corps cohorts at Stanford University led by Steve Blank.  Centered around the blossoming New York City innovation ecosystem, a consortium of 25 leading research IHEs in the greater metropolitan area came together to establish the first competitively awarded NSF I-Corps Node.  The NY I-Corps Node fostered the creation of most of the NSF I-Corps Sites in its area.  In its latest iteration, NY I-Corps is now geographically focusing its efforts more deeply into its firmly-established local innovation ecosystem.  Part of its mission is to include IHEs that have not traditionally participated in I-Corps and to embrace its location at the heart of a large group of major medical institutions.

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The City University of New York (CUNY) is the hub's principal institution, with Columbia University, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Clarkson University as partner institutions. The hub includes five initial affiliates: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Rockefeller University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Stony Brook University, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and University at Albany. The hub will expand by adding new member institutions each year.