In 2001, the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) was facing serious financial woes. Among efforts to correct the situation, the decision was made to stop publication of The Sciences, NYAS's well-loved and frequently awarded semi-monthly magazine. That decision was met withan outcry, and the future of the Academy seemed uncertain. But three years later, the NYAS is still on its feet. Although membership has been flat the last two years, according to spokesperson Rich Kelley, officials have been able to stem earlier double-digit losses. Ellis Rubinstein, who became president and CEO in 2002, says, "It's been very hard work under the conditions that we had ... [but] I feel like what we're doing is being regarded as something exceptionally valuable. It's been very rewarding to feel like we're playing a role that's crucial in the city."

Rubenstein hopes that NYAS, founded in 1817, will serve as "a tremendous recruiting tool to bring the best and brightest to New York" and keep them there. That means helping the city become more economically viable as a biotech center. One proposed project is a collaboration with Rockefeller University, New York University, Columbia University, and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Research Center that will help bridge the gap between academia and industry by matching investigators with biotech and pharmaceutical companies interested in their research. Discussions are already underway with PriceWaterhouseCooper to design the project, and Rubinstein expects that a business plan, including state funding, will be ready in early 2005.

Today, the Academy – well-known for its series of Annals and semi-annual conferences – offers programs designed to draw together New York's research community and help local scientists reach out to their colleagues worldwide. At the heart of its mission to unite investigators is the Frontiers of Science program, which brings researchers together in informal settings – over sandwiches or coffee – to discuss the latest ideas and unpublished research in their fields. Building on pre-existing discussion groups, Frontiers of Science program director Jeremy Paul says that the goal is to identify and focus on interdisciplinary hotspots. The Academy hopes to have a total of 20 groups, including sections on diabetes and obesity, HIV, and nanobiotechnology by year's end.

The NYAS Web site has also had a dramatic redesign, and now includes PreBriefings, which preview material to be discussed at upcoming events, and eBriefings, posted after meetings, which provide access to extensive meeting summaries and links to related material, explains NYAS new media director Sarah Greene. Paul says that the 80-90 eBriefings already available serve as a "virtual classroom" for scientists worldwide.

These initiatives have prompted changes in NYAS's membership. Active members, who pay $95 ($115 outside the US) annually, have full access to the Web site, including full text of the Annals, while affiliate and associate members pay lesser fees for partial access. Students get full access at discounted rates. Despite the NYAS's location, the more than 23,000 members live in 151 countries. Rubinstein says that 90% have PhDs and 60% are life scientists. Historically, participants came almost solely from academia, but many more scientists from industry and private institutions have been joining the ranks in recent months. The ratio of working to retired scientists also is changing, he adds, "gradually bringing youth back into the organization." Thanks to NYAS's Science Alliance, which allows institutions to sponsor Academy membership dues for their first-year graduate students and postdocs, the Academy's membership as of June 2004 included 6,000 graduate students and postdocs.