Prasad Receives Excellence Award from SUNY; 14 Other UB Faculty Members Recognized for Research Efforts

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Paras Prasad, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry in the University at Buffalo's College of Arts and Sciences, has been honored by the State University of New York for his "singular contribution to scholarship and the reputation of the university."

Prasad, executive director of the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics, received an Excellence in the Pursuit of Knowledge Award from SUNY Chancellor Robert L. King recently at the second annual State University Dinner Honoring Innovation, Creation and Discovery held in Albany.

Prasad was one of 14 UB faculty members honored for their research at the dinner. Others who were recognized were Julian L. Ambrus, Jr., Sathyamangalam V. Balasubramanian, Thomas A. Russo, Ulrike Carlino, Michael C. Constantinou, Michael Ray Detty, Murali Ramanathan, Marilyn E. Morris, Peter Scott and Surajit Sen, who received First Patent Awards, and Oleh Pankewycz, Mark T. Swihart and Eliot Winer, who received Promising Inventors Awards.

The UB researchers were among 54 SUNY scholars recognized for their work in such areas as freshwater safeguards, cardiovascular science, nanoelectronics, literacy, biophotonics, molecular science and neuroscience.

Prasad was one of seven SUNY faculty members, all leaders in their fields, receiving the Excellence in the Pursuit of Knowledge Award.

Founder as well as executive director of the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics, Prasad is making scientific breakthroughs in two emerging research areas: biophotonics -- the way biological matter interacts with light -- and bionanophotonics, a complementary field that adds a nanotechnologies component.

This interdisciplinary research has won him international recognition and resulted in several patented inventions that involve novel biophotonic materials with applications ranging from photodynamic cancer therapy to bioimaging to new dimensions in drug therapy made possible by nanomedicine.

A 1997 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Prasad is a fellow of the Optical Society of America and the American Physical Society. He has published more than 425 papers and co-edited six major books in the field of photonics materials.

He lives in Amherst.

The 10 UB faculty members who received First Patent Awards were honored for receiving their first patents in 2002 and helping to place SUNY in the top 10 of patent-generating institutions. They are:

o Julian L. Ambrus, Jr., associate professor in the Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, for patent 6,392,029 -- HIV chemokines. This patent has applications in HIV vaccine development. Linda B. Ludwig, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Kristie Anne Krawczyk, former laboratory technician, are co-inventors.

o Sathyamangalam V. Balasubramanian, assistant professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, for patent 6,348,215 -- Stabilization of taxane-containing dispersed systems. This invention is a method of stabilizing taxol liposomes. Taxol is a frequently used anti-cancer drug that can cause significant side effects. Stabilized liposome formulations of taxol have been shown to reduce the toxic effects of taxol treatments. Robert M. Straubinger, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, is a co-inventor.

o Thomas A. Russo, assistant professor, and Ulrike Carlino, biologist, both of the Department of Medicine in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, for patent 6,410,703 -- Identification of a vaccine candidate from an extraintestinal isolate of E. coli. This vaccine candidate can be used as an immunogen in vaccine formations against E. coli found outside the intestines. Typical extraintestinal E coli infections include urinary tract, meningitis and pneumonia.

o Michael C. Constantinou, professor, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, for patent 6,438,905 -- Highly effective seismic energy-dissipation apparatus. Constantinou developed a new energy dissipation technology that uses an unusual configuration, called Scissor-Jack Energy Dissipation System, to dissipate much of the earthquake-induced energy when installed in structural systems.

o Michael Ray Detty, professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, for patent 6,458,967 -- Method for preparation of an intermediate dye product. This invention is an intermediate compound for a laser dye useful as a heat-generating element for such applications as thermal imaging, lithography or optical-recording imaging. Peter R. Virkler, former graduate student, was a co-inventor.

o Murali Ramanathan, associate professor, and Marilyn E. Morris, professor, both of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, for patent 6,468,757 -- Method for determining drug-serum protein binding. This invention is a method for screening for drug binding to serum protein. The binding of drugs to serum proteins can alter the disposition of the drug and reduce the availability of the drug at the site of desired action. The proposed method uses optical techniques that rapidly measure drug binding and eliminates the need for size-selective membranes and for drug analysis.

o Peter Scott, associate professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, for patent 6,455,831 -- CMOS foveal image sensor chip. Used in foveal vision systems, this invention allows automatic target-recognition systems and robots to see the same way as humans. Cesar Bandera, formerly with Amherst Systems; Ramalingam Sridhar, associate professor, and Shu Xia, former doctoral candidate, both of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, are co-inventors.

o Surajit Sen, associate professor, Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, for patent 6,418,081 -- System for detection of buried objects. This detection system uses acoustic energy and acoustic sensors, such as specialized micro-electromechanical sensors, to identify metallic and non-metallic objects buried in the ground, such as landmines. Michael J. Naughton, formerly of the Department of Physics, was a co-inventor.

Three faculty members received Promising Inventor Awards in recognition of submitting their first invention disclosures in 2002:

o Oleh Pankewycz, clinical assistant professor and associate professor, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, for "Novel Human Gene with Immunoregulatory and Antiproliferative Properties"

o Mark T. Swihart, assistant professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, for "Process for Producing Luminescent Silicon Naonoparticles"

o Eliot Winer, deputy director, New York State Center for Engineering Design and Industrial Innovation (NYSCEDII), for "Geographic Independent Virtual Environment (GIVE)" and "Graph Morphing."