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Advancing work with tarantula venom
UB biophysicists who are testing a protein found in tarantula venom as a potential therapy for muscular dystrophy have received foundation support for their work.
The Children’s Guild Foundation has given $125,000 to Frederick Sachs, SUNY Distinguished Professor and UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and his team, which is seeking to advance the peptide—called GsMTx4—to clinical trials and ultimately to gain FDA approval for use of the drug in humans.
The FDA already has approved it as an orphan drug for muscular dystrophy.
The team discovered the peptide—which is protected by a U.S. patent awarded to UB—about 15 years ago. The Sachs lab also is exploring the peptide’s application to several other conditions, including the cardiac arrhythmias commonly associated with dystrophy, neuropathic pain, Parkinson’s disease and sickle cell anemia, all diseases that affect cell mechanics.
“Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a far too common and fatal genetic disease that affects thousands of children and devastates families,” said James A. Bourne, board chair of the Children's Guild Foundation. “Finding a treatment for MD is an effort that the foundation supports wholeheartedly.”
Recent testing on GsMTx4 in dystrophic laboratory mice showed that the drug increases muscle strength without causing mortality, morbidity or toxicity. Sachs said it is the only known drug to act specifically on mechanosensitive ion channels.
Fernandes, Koelmel named top executives
Donna M. Fernandes, president and CEO of the Buffalo Zoo, and John R. Koelmel, president and CEO of First Niagara Financial Group, Inc., have been named the 2010 Buffalo-Niagara Executives of the Year by the School of Management.
The awards will be presented at the 61st Annual School of Management Alumni Association Awards Banquet on Nov. 3.
Fernandes and Koelmel were selected by a vote of past honorees and the board of directors of the alumni association, who cited their business acumen and innovative leadership.
Since her arrival in Buffalo in 2000 as president and CEO of the Buffalo Zoo, Fernandes has been credited with taking the nation’s third-oldest zoo from the brink of extinction to a ranking as one of the country’s best zoological parks. With the cooperation of the Zoological Society’s board, she initiated a 15-year, $70 million master plan. Under her guidance, the zoo has raised $30 million in capital funds and opened a number of new exhibits.
Fernandes is an adjunct assistant professor in UB’s Department of Anthropology, a part-time instructor at Canisius College and a board member of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership.
Koelmel is president and CEO of First Niagara Financial Group and its principal subsidiary, First Niagara Bank N.A. He joined First Niagara in 2004 as chief financial officer and was appointed to his current position in 2006. During his tenure, Koelmel has led First Niagara in its growth from a savings institution with 119 branches and $8 billion in assets to what will be, upon completion in 2011 of its pending merger with NewAlliance Bancorp, a top-25, super-regional commercial bank with more than 340 branches and $30 billion in assets.
Throughout the recent financial crisis, Koelmel consistently led and positioned First Niagara to fortify its capital position, profitably growing the bank and increasing lending to consumers and businesses in the communities it serves. In 2008 and 2009, Koelmel led First Niagara through three highly successful follow-on stock offerings, raising nearly $1 billion in capital from the private sector to fuel the bank’s increased lending and growth.
Established in 1949, the Buffalo-Niagara Executive of the Year award is presented annually to an individual who either resides in or has had a significant impact on the region, and who has distinguished himself or herself in a career marked by executive success and civic leadership. This is the first time in the 61-year history that two awardees will be honored in the same year. Last year’s honoree was Robert D. Gioia, president of The John R. Oishei Foundation.
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Experts to discuss accounting topics
Financial experts Robert L. Goecks and Thomas P. Mullen will speak at the School of Management on anti-money-laundering initiatives and mergers and acquisition, respectively.
The lectures will be held at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Oct. 14 in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus. The visits are sponsored by the Helen and Oscar Sufrin Lectureship in Accounting, which brings distinguished business professionals to the School of Management to speak about accounting issues.
Goecks is president of Egris LLC, an advisory services practice, specializing in Bank Secrecy Act compliance, anti-money-laundering, Office of Foreign Assets Controls matters and related financial crimes. Most recently, he was practice leader of Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money-Laundering compliance services for the accounting firm of Eisner LLP, headquartered in New York City.
Mullen is a partner in the International Tax Services group supporting the New York Mergers and Acquisitions group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He specializes in structuring cross-border acquisitions, dispositions and combinations. As a specialist in international structuring, he is responsible for designing acquisition and holding company structures; efficient cross-border financing strategies; tax-efficient cross-border repatriation plans; leveraged and ordinary corporate recapitalizations; plans to maximize foreign tax credit utilization; planning and implementing global reorganizations; and global corporate restructuring plans that achieve value-added dispositions. He holds a BS and MBA from UB.
Although the lectures are free and open to the public, seating is limited and reservations are required. Contact Janet Kiefer at kiefer@buffalo.edu or 645-3290 by Oct. 7.
Funding for the lectureship is provided through the generous support of Leslie Sufrin and Gerald Sufrin, a long-time UB faculty member, in honor of their late parents.
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Scholarships for study in Germany available
Scholarships for study and research in Germany are available from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for the academic year 2011-2012. At least one UB applicant is usually funded, with only one to six students typically applying each year.
The fellowships carry a monthly stipend of 750 to 1,000 Euros ($1,024-$1,366) and include tuition, travel and insurance. Applicants in the humanities and social sciences should have a good command of German; applicants in the sciences, music and the arts may have less German. U.S. and Canadian citizens are eligible, as well as foreign students affiliated with an American university.
Graduating seniors and graduate students from all disciplines may apply for a “study scholarship” to study at the German university of their choice for a 10-month period; “research grants” are available to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers for stays of one to 10 months.
To apply, contact Patricia Mazon in the Department of History at 645-8429 or mazon@buffalo.edu. Applications must be submitted through Mazon, who screens all UB applications.
The campus application deadline is Oct. 22 for students in the arts and Oct. 29 for students in all other fields.
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