IMSD News

Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, has been honored by the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) as the 2024 recipient of its Award for Contributing to the Diversity and Inclusiveness of the Translational Workforce.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the completion of the massive, larger-than-life-sized “Celebration of Diversity” mural in the atrium of the Jacobs School.

Something bright, beautiful and extraordinary is taking shape in the atrium of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Sergio Dominguez-Lopez, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology, received a travel award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) to attend its annual meeting Dec. 3-6 in Tampa, Florida.

Delicious aromas, colorful displays and upbeat sounds filled the atrium of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Dec. 1 as the school’s chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) presented the 2023 edition of its Taste of Culture event.

Jennifer A. Surtees, PhD, professor of biochemistry, has been named associate dean for undergraduate education and STEM outreach at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology, delivered the Julius Axelrod Lecture and organized the Axelrod Symposium at the 2023 annual meeting of The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET).

UB’s Visiting Future Faculty Program (VITAL) returned for an encore as six outstanding doctoral students visited the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences as part of an initiative to increase the number of faculty at UB from traditionally underrepresented populations in North America.

A summer research program focused on providing undergraduate students from diverse groups guidance toward graduate and professional careers in the biosciences recently wrapped up a successful 2022 campaign. 

Arin Bhattacharjee, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology, has been selected to serve on the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Neuropathy of Pain and Itch (NPI) Study Section for a four-year term.

Ebony Omotola McGee, PhD, has seen bias in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) firsthand, and she talked about her experiences and solutions to fix the problem during a lecture and workshop April 7.

The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) has announced that Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology, is the recipient of the 2022 Julius Axelrod Award in Pharmacology.

Research led by Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology, unravels the many physiological roles of melatonin.

The University at Buffalo has a number of successful programs that provide career and professional development and opportunities for underrepresented students to develop into successful scientists and health professionals. 

A trainee in the doctoral program in neuroscience is one of 18 young researchers across the United States selected for an award that supports for up to six years a defined pathway across career stages for outstanding graduate students from diverse backgrounds underrepresented in neuroscience research. 

Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, has been named a 2020 fellow of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) and a 2021 Scientific Achievement Award winner.

CLIMB, an innovative and comprehensive diversity program at the University at Buffalo that provides intensive mentoring experiences for biosciences students from undergraduate through postdoctoral levels, has received an award from INSIGHT into Diversity magazine.

UB ranks 100th in Regional Research Reputation ranking, which measures academics’ opinions of other universities within their regions.

Jennifer A. Surtees, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry, is leading an effort to track the genomics of COVID-19 in Western New York.

From the science of taste to transistor technology to understanding plate tectonics and volcanoes, the funded projects will address issues of societal importance.

UB is the No. 1 public university in New York State and ranks 31st among public colleges and universities nationwide in the 2021 Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings.

For the seventh consecutive year, UB is ranked among the nation’s Top 50 Public Universities, coming in at No. 34. UB also ranks No. 88 among Best National Universities, public and private, according to U.S. News.

CLIMB, an innovative and comprehensive diversity program that provides intensive mentoring experiences for biosciences students, has received an award from INSIGHT into Diversity magazine.

Provost A. Scott Weber and unit diversity officers talked about how UB can change the campus culture and correct bias in its policies and practices.

A live, online public forum on racial equity and anti-racism will be held from 1 to 3 p.m.  July 14. The forum is being organized by the Community Health Equity Research Institute of the University at Buffalo and the Buffalo Center for Health Equity.

A panel featuring UB faculty and community leaders will follow the talk by Davarian Baldwin, leading historian and cultural critic.

UB professor Joseph Balthasar received a new $1.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to improve the delivery of targeted therapies to cancer cells.

Virtual panel members discussed racial inequities, macroaggressions and microaggressions, and white privilege.

The PhD Program in Biomedical Sciences (PPBS) recognized 14 students from the Class of 2019-2020 — 11 doctoral students and three MD-PhD Program students — who completed their first year in the program and are moving on to their research laboratory match.

A series of papers published by vision researchers is revealing important new information about the possible cause of a condition that underlies a rare form of irreversible blindness in young children.

Cecil Foster says George Floyd’s death and the protests over his killing have brought the country to “what could be a new abolitionist moment.”

Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington tells a UB online audience that intent, engagement and transparency are all key to a real conversation about race.

The council, comprised of faculty, staff, students and alumni, will address issues of race and culture at UB.

The Diversity, Inclusion, and Learning Environment (DIALE) committee is working diligently to address the feedback and suggestions gathered at the town hall meeting, and to address the issues raised in Polity’s Resolution No. 2020-001 and the Recommendations and Action Items document.

Students, medical residents, faculty and administrators are speaking out against racism and injustice, and launching new initiatives.

The university was ranked No. 46 among all U.S. universities in the QS World University Rankings: USA.

The Zoom teleconferencing platform turned out to be a major component of remote learning at the university this spring.

Tim Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and director of the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute, testified Monday at the state Legislature’s Joint Virtual Public Hearing Exploring Solutions to the Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Minority Communities

The Center for Diversity Innovation launches its Distinguished Visiting Scholars program with an inaugural cohort of nine scholars for the fall semester.

The Celebration of Academic Excellence website offers a central location to view the extraordinary achievements of UB's students.

The company is developing tools for the infectious disease diagnostics market with support from UB’s Buffalo Institute for Genomics and Data Analytics.

M. Laura Feltri, Jo Freudenheim, Amit Goyal, Elad Levy and Stephen Tiffany received the highest faculty rank in SUNY.

The faculty members were appointed to SUNY's highest faculty rank for their international prominence and distinguished reputations within their chosen fields.

Several UB graduate schools and programs have been cited by U.S. News & World Report in its 2021 ranking of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”

UB Schools and programs received honors spanning several fields, including pharmacy, nursing, business, engineering, law, education and more.

Colón has recruited dozens of Puerto Rican students to UB over 25 years, with about 20 earning advanced degrees.

The criminal justice advocate and one of the Exonerated Five was UB's Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration speaker.

UB is among 29 programs nationwide to be awarded exemplar status by the American Society of Engineering Education.

The University at Buffalo has been awarded a five-year, $21.7 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue Buffalo’s rapid trajectory growing its health care and research sectors.

The discovery of novel melatonin receptor molecules may make possible therapies for such circadian rhythm disburbances as jet lag, shift work, depression and sleep disorders.

Salaam is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Keynote Speaker in the 2019-2020 Distinguished Speakers Series lineup.

Gabriela K. Popescu, PhD, professor of biochemistry, has begun serving her two-year term as chair of the Council of Faculty and Academic Societies (CFAS) of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

The $2.2 million comes from the first round of funding through SUNY's PRODiG program, Interim Provost A. Scott Weber tells the UB Council.

An abstract co-authored by Rasheen Powell, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, has been selected as a “Neuroscience 2019 Hot Topic” by the Society for Neuroscience.

Two Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ researchers studying how to develop novel, non-addicting painkillers have each been issued awards by the Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative, a prestigious and highly competitive program from the National Institutes of Health.

Laurie K. Read, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology, is using National Institutes of Health funding to study the unique RNA biology of human parasites.

Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences researchers are focusing on the development of a new approach to treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

An innovative researcher and others who have made significant contributions to their fields and to the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences were honored with 2019 Faculty-Staff Recognition Awards.

The PhD Program in Biomedical Sciences (PPBS) conducted its third annual white coat ceremony to recognize 19 students from the Class of 2018-2019 — 14 doctoral students and five MD-PhD students — who completed their first year in the program and are moving on to their research laboratory match.

Gabriela K. Popescu, PhD, professor of biochemistry, will use funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the gating mechanisms of fast neurotransmitter brain receptors.

The Hunter James Kelly Research Institute (HJKRI) has received more than $2 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, enabling researchers to pursue a new approach to Krabbe disease.

James D. Bangs, PhD, has been named a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, an honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology — the world’s oldest and largest life science organization.

Richard M. Gronostajski, PhD, professor of biochemistry, says the unconfirmed claims of genetically modified humans being developed in China is a source of concern for biologists and bioethicists around the world.

Jun-Xu Li, MD, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology, is being recognized by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) with the inaugural JH Woods Early Career Award in Behavioral Pharmacology.

Jennifer A. Martin, a doctoral student in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, has received a prestigious Blueprint Diversity Specialized Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Advancement in Neuroscience Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Paul Tesluk, dean and professor in the School of Management, was interviewed by The New York Times for an article about team chemistry and the New York Giants.

Researchers and their mentors in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology were honored for their in-depth studies presented at the 2018 Experimental Biology meeting and related forums.

Thirteen students from the Class of 2017-18 in the PhD Program in Biomedical Sciences (PPBS) took part in a white coat ceremony to recognize the completion of their first year in the program and celebrate their moving on to a research laboratory match.

The Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement recognized staff, students, trainees and faculty during the 2018 Faculty-Staff Recognition Awards ceremony.

The summit's keynote panel stressed that coordination and intentionality are key to integrating inclusive excellence campus-wide.

The University at Buffalo will host a public screening of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" followed by a panel discussion on the ethical concerns surrounding research consent, privacy and ownership of DNA.

The projects will receive a total of $134,000 from UB’s Bruce Holm Memorial Catalyst Fund.

Research led by Fraser J. Sim, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology, that seeks to spur development of cellular and molecular therapies for adult demyelinating disease, such as multiple sclerosis, has gained funding from the National Institutes of Health.

The award is one of the foundation’s most prestigious for early-career faculty.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) has funded two separate projects led by researchers in the departments of Neurology and Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology and senior associate dean for diversity and inclusion, has been awarded the inaugural Dolores Shockley Minority Mentoring Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).

A dozen faculty members, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology participated in the Experimental Biology 2017 meeting.

National Institutes of Health saw successful impact of scholarship program.

A National Institutes of Health (NIH) training grant aimed at providing professional development resources and mentoring for doctoral students in several UB schools has been renewed for another five years.

The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) has selected Jun-Xu Li, MD, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology, to lead its Division for Behavioral Pharmacology.

Graduate students and trainee researchers in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and the neuroscience program presented research talks and posters at the 2017 Behavior, Biology and Chemistry: Translational Research in Addiction conference.

Research by faculty in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology shows that synthetic chemicals commonly found in insecticides and garden products bind to receptors that govern our biological clocks.

As the countdown to the opening of the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences downtown begins to be measured in months instead of years, the school continues to grow and diversify its faculty ranks, attract outstanding students and enhance its research productivity.

Anthony J. Jones, a doctoral student in the neuroscience program, has received a two-year fellowship award in pharmacology/toxicology from the PhRMA Foundation.

Jun-Xu Li, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology, has received the Joseph Cochin Young Investigator Award from the College of Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) for his research on pharmacotherapy for stimulant abuse.

Graduate-level researchers and faculty in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology presented in-depth studies and lectures at the 2016 Experimental Biology meeting and related forums.

Graduate student and trainee researchers and their mentors in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology received positive feedback on in-depth studies they presented at the 2016 Behavior, Biology and Chemistry: Translational Research in Addiction meeting.

Medical school faculty members Margarita Dubocovich and Mark O’Brian are the recipients of the 2015-16 Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award.

The honor is bestowed on AAAS members by their peers for their efforts to advance science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.

To fight the spread of antimicrobial resistance, researchers will target an oft-overlooked haven where drug-resistant “superbugs” may thrive: wastewater treatment plants.

Ninety-five student-scientists presented projects during the 2015 Buffalo Summer Research Day, an interdisciplinary forum marking the culmination of their summer research in Buffalo.

UB faculty member Luis Colón can add another honor to his long list of mentoring awards: the 2016 Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences from the American Chemical Society.

Discovery of new neural pathway may lead to preventing relapses in addicts.

Trip will include an awards ceremony hosted by the National Science Foundation and a visit to the White House.

The grant will support eight graduate students per year for five years.

A University at Buffalo researcher has discovered a way to keep  remyelination going, using a drug that’s already on the market.