Media Advisory: Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB holds 171st commencement

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo will hold its 171st commencement at 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 28, in the Center for the Arts on UB’s North Campus.

One hundred and thirty-one students will receive medical degrees, including three MD/PhD degrees; eight MD/MBA degrees; and two MD/oral and maxillofacial surgery degrees.

The keynote speaker will be Steven A. Wartman, MD, PhD, president of the Association of Academic Health Centers, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.  The association supports and promotes the mission of academic health centers, which encompass all of a university’s health-related units, including its health sciences schools, patient care operations and units dedicated to research.

“We are delighted to be able to welcome Dr. Wartman to our Buffalo academic health center to address our graduates and their families on this wonderful occasion,” said Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences at UB and dean of the medical school. “His presence here is especially timely as we are only a few months away from the opening of the new, downtown home of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, which will dramatically expand and strengthen the academic health center in Western New York.”

During the ceremony, Margarita Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and senior associate dean for diversity and inclusion in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will receive the UB President’s Medal in recognition of her extraordinary service to the university.

Press arrangements: Cory Nealon at cmnealon@buffalo.edu and 716-645-4614.

Founded in 1846, the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo is beginning a new chapter in its history with the largest medical education building under construction in the nation. The eight-story, 628,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in 2017. The new location puts superior medical education, clinical care and pioneering research in close proximity, anchoring Buffalo’s evolving comprehensive academic health center in a vibrant downtown setting. These new facilities will better enable the school to advance health and wellness across the life span for the people of New York and the world through research, clinical care and the education of tomorrow’s leaders in health care and biomedical sciences. The school’s faculty and residents provide care for the community’s diverse populations through strong clinical partnerships and the school’s practice plan, UBMD Physicians’ Group.