WELLNESS WORKS. State Sen. Mary Lou Rath (center) and Joan Dorn, associate professor of social and preventive medicine and principal investigator on the Western New York Wellness Works project, check out the new Wellness Center at Greater Buffalo Savings Bank. Getting in time on the treadmill is bank employee Shawn Carter, a heart attack survivor who works out every day in the Wellness Center and has lost 38 pounds. For more details on the Wellness Works initiative, see story in this week's issue. (Photo: John DellaContrada)
Device targets hospital infections
An innovative UB air-sterilization technology that the U.S. Department of Defense is funding to protect troops on the battlefield soon may be protecting hospital patients from deadly infections, thanks to recent funding from New York State. » Full Story
More money for Wellness Works. State Sen. Mary Lou Rath last week announced she has secured an additional $500,000 in funding for Western New York Wellness Works, a $1 million initiative to promote company-sponsored wellness programs.
Helping computers read hand gestures. With the tap of a single finger, computer users soon may be drawn deeper into the virtual world using a new device developed in UB's Virtual Reality Lab.
Global diversity spurs Dalai Lama visit. Stephen Dunnett, vice provost for international education, says UB's large international student population was one of the reasons His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama decided to visit the university next month.
Study focuses on brain receptors. UB researcher Gabriela Popescu is beginning a new study to investigate the mechanisms that control NMDA receptors in the brain—known to play a role in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's—and learn how to disrupt certain damaging receptor functions while leaving other important functions intact.
Gift to help promote WNY wellness. A gift from the J. Warren Perry and Charles Donald Perry Memorial Fund will be used to help establish a resource center as part of the Western New York Wellness Works initiative.