Boris Albini, UB Professor of Microbiology, Dies at 57

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m. June 23 in St. Joseph's University Church, 3269 Main St., Buffalo, for Boris Albini, professor of microbiology and research professor of medicine at the University at Buffalo, who died June 20 in his Williamsville home after a long illness. He was 57.

A native of Zagreb, Yugoslavia, Albini came to UB in 1974 from the University of Vienna as a Max Kade Fellow to study immunopathology with Giuseppe Andres, now UB professor emeritus.

In 1975, Albini was named a Buswell Fellow and a year later joined the faculty of the Department of Microbiology as an assistant professor.

Much of Albini's research focused on a wide range of autoimmune diseases, including lupus erthymatosus, systemic chronic serum sickness, Crohn's Disease and others related to kidney disease.

He was named a Fulbright scholar in 1991, and taught and conducted research in the Department of Experimental Pathology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.

His collaborative research with Austrian colleagues focused on studies of immune responses to bacterial components and lymphocyte function in aging.

A compassionate, gentle and generous man, ever-mindful of victims of the ongoing conflict in the Balkans, Albini traveled to Bosnia three years ago under the auspices of the International Medical Relief of Western New York.

His mission included continuing the organization's efforts to improve medical care and education and to gather information critical in obtaining funds for the program.

His multilingual fluency, as well as his scientific and medical expertise, were invaluable for the organization's success.

Albini devoted many hours to community service, in one year alone volunteering more than 900 hours working for various community, university and international groups. For more than a decade, he served as a member of the board of directors of the International Institute of Buffalo.

In addition, he worked on projects for United University Professions (UUP), the faculty/staff union at UB, and for New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

His union-related efforts and university and community service earned him the Regina Kociecki Award for Distinguished Achievement from the UB Health Sciences Chapter of UUP. He also received NYSUT's Community Service Award.

His service to UB included membership on the medical school's admissions committee and Faculty Council, and on the university's Faculty Senate.

He was a member of The Ernest Witebsky Center for Immunology at UB and was president of the Buffalo Collegium of Immunology at the time of his death.

He was author or co-author of some 140 scientific publications and served as an associate editor or member of the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals.

A graduate of the University of Vienna, Albini had degrees in medicine and music. He also studied romance languages and the history of theater. He was an accomplished pianist, painter and playwright, and had done journalistic writing in Austria.

He is survived by his wife, Christine, a pediatrician and endocrinologist; two sons, Thomas (Frances) Albini of Miami, and Paul of Williamsville; his mother, Maja Albini of Williamsville, and one grandson.