Media Advisory: “Building a Brighter Future for Buffalo: Academic Medical Centers and Why They Matter” is topic of keynote and panel

BUFFALO, N.Y. — What is an academic medical center and why does it matter to Western New York? How will the new downtown home of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo enhance patient care and quality of life in the region?

These questions and others related to how academic medical centers impact patient care, medical education, research and economic development will be discussed at an event sponsored by the UB Alumni Association.

Open to the public, the event takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 6 in the UB Center for the Arts Screening Room on the North Campus.

For more information and to register, contact Jennifer Seth-Cimini at jns2@buffalo.edu or Erin Zack at erinzack@buffalo.edu.

The keynote will be given by James S. Marks, MD, a Buffalo native who received his MD from UB in 1973 and is now executive vice president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). A panel discussion will follow his keynote.

Marks sees the future of Buffalo and its academic medical center as inextricably linked.

“The move of the medical school downtown and the creation of the medical center campus is a morale-building statement of confidence in Buffalo’s future,” he said.  “It is a strong, new base to spur future development that, led and managed well, will help both the city and its academic medical center thrive together.”

Marks is a national leader in public health who has long advocated the strengthening of public health systems and services. In his current position, he directs all program and administrative activities of the RWJF Health Group, including the Foundation’s work in childhood obesity, public health and vulnerable populations. 

Previously, Marks served as director of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In that role, he worked to advance systematic ways to prevent and detect cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and to address tobacco use and the nation’s obesity epidemic.

Marks’ keynote will be followed by a panel discussion featuring:

• James Clements, PhD, project manager, Athenex Inc.
• Victor Filadora, chief of clinical services, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and UB alumnus.
• Suzanne Laychock, PhD, senior associate dean for faculty affairs and professor of pharmacology and toxicology.
• Gustavo A. Lima, principal, Cannon Design and UB alumnus.
• Kate Mirzozoda, MD/MBA candidate, Class of 2018, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and School of Management.