UB Awards Multidisciplinary Grants to 16 Faculty Teams

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Sixteen faculty teams at the University at Buffalo with excellent ideas for original, multidisciplinary research have been awarded grants totaling more than $300,000 by the university.

The grants, ranging from $8,500 to $20,000, are part of a program UB started last year to provide seed funding for multidisciplinary pilot projects in order to improve their chances of attracting external support.

For every dollar invested in the pilot projects, it's estimated that the return from external funding sources may be as high as $8, said Dale M. Landi, Ph.D., vice president for research at UB.

Providing faculty with the means to explore new ideas that cross disciplinary boundaries is essential to survival in an increasingly competitive external funding environment, Landi explained. "We want to put our faculty in the best possible position to compete for grant funding.

"Today, faculty members need to have already completed much of their research before they apply for external grants," he added.

Landi explained that reinvestment of earned income is crucial to running a complex research organization like UB.

Applications were evaluated by expert reviewers at other institutions around the world who had no personal or financial ties to the applicants. Proposals with the highest ratings were funded.

Research projects had to be in an area central to UB's graduate-education, research and public-service goals, and special consideration was given to proposals that crossed traditional boundaries of distinctly different disciplines.

Project Director: John M. Aletta, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology

Co-investigator: Murray J. Ettinger, Ph.D., Distinguished Teaching Professor of biochemistry

Project Director: Diane P. Bofinger, Ph.D., assistant professor of clinical laboratory sciences, Erie County Medical Center

Co-investigators: James R. Olson, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and toxicology; Ronald E. Batt, M.D., clinical associate professor of gynecology-obstetrics, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, and Germaine M. Buck, Ph.D., assistant professor of social and preventive medicine

Project Director: Peter G. Bradford, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology

Co-investigator: Maria R. Baer, M.D., research associate professor of medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Project Director: Anthony A. Campagnari, Ph.D., research associate professor of microbiology and medicine

Co-investigators: Sanjay Sethi, M.D., research assistant professor of pulmonary medicine, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Eugene D. Morse, Pharm.D., associate professor of pharmacy

Project Director: Laurie C. Carter, Ph.D., assistant professor of oral diagnostic sciences

Co-investigators: Charles Liebow, Ph.D., professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery and otolaryngology, and Hani Abdel-Nabi, Ph.D., research assistant professor of nuclear medicine and surgery

Project Director: Robert E. Cohen, Ph.D., associate professor of periodontology

Co-investigators: Bernice Noble, Ph.D., professor of microbiology, and Mirdza E. Neiders, D.D.S., professor of stomatology and interdisciplinary sciences

Project Director: William K. Cummings, Ph.D., professor of educational organization, administration and policy

Co-investigators: Claude E. Welch, Ph.D., Distinguished Service Professor of political science, and Ernest Sternberg, Ph.D., associate professor of planning and design

Project Director: Dale R. Fish, Ph.D., associate professor of physical therapy and exercise science

Co-investigators: Frank Mendel, Ph.D., associate professor of anatomy and cell biology; Richard Thornton, Ph.D., research fellow, and Harold Burton, Ph.D., assistant professor, both of physical therapy and exercise science; John Kolega, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology; William Gavin, Ph.D., research associate professor of occupational therapy, and Elliot N. Gale, Ph.D., professor of oral diagnostic sciences

Project Director: Thomas D. Flanagan, Ph.D., professor of microbiology

Co-investigators: Shinpei Ohki, Ph.D., professor of biophysical sciences, and Thomas E. Melendy, Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology

Project Director: Hong Luo, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics

Co-investigator: P.L. Liu, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering

Project Director: Marilyn E. Morris, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmaceutics

Co-investigator: Debra C. Dubois, Ph.D., research assistant professor of biological sciences

Project Director: Triantafillos Mountziaris, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemical engineering

Co-investigator: Athos Petrou, Ph.D., associate professor of physics

Project Director: Madhaven P.N. Nair, Ph.D., research professor of medicine, Buffalo General Hospital

Co-investigators: Stanley A. Schwartz, Ph.D., professor of medicine; Jamson S. Lwebuga-Mukasa, M.D., associate professor of medicine, and John Hay, Ph.D., professor of microbiology

Project Director: Bruce J. Nicholson, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences

Co-investigators: Alonso P. Moreno, Ph.D., research assistant professor of biological sciences, and Johannes M. Nitsche, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemical engineering

Project Director: Alan J. Rabideau, Ph.D., assistant professor of civil engineering

Co-investigator: Rossman F. Giese, Jr., Ph.D., professor of geology

Project Director: Noreen Williams, Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology

Co-investigators: William T. Ruyechan, Ph.D., professor of microbiology, and Anthony Campagnari, Ph.D., research associate professor of medicine, Erie County Medical Center