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UB to host Ride for Roswell
UB will host the 12th annual Ride for Roswell on June 23 to help raise funds in support of cancer research and patient treatment at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
The UB team participating in this year's Ride for Roswell will ride under the slogan "Partners in Progress." Members of the UB community interested in joining the UB Spirit Team should click here. UB will cover the registration fee for the first 100 UB riders who sign up for the event at the team's Web site. In return, each rider must raise a minimum of $75 in pledge support. Each UB team member will receive a free UB T-shirt.
Participants in the Ride for Roswell can choose to take part in a 9-mile, 20-mile, 33-mile, or 62.5-mile route, each of which begins and ends at Baird Point on the North Campus. After the ride, UB community members and friends are invited to celebrate in the UB tent at Baird Point.
Last year, more than 3,200 riders raised a record $1.2 million, with the 150 riders on the UB team raising more than $50,000-more than any of the other 280 teams participating in the ride.
For more information, contact Jay Friedman at 645-3705, ext. 222, or at jf5@buffalo.edu.
Study examines 'brain's own marijuana'
A researcher at UB's Research Institute on Addictions is investigating the "brain's own marijuana"—called endocannabinoid-in the regulation of stress, stress—related behavior and anxiety.
A five-year, $1.7 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health is supporting the investigation.
"It is widely accepted that one of the major reasons that people use and abuse marijuana is to relieve stress," according to Samir Haj-Dahmane, neuroscientist and principal investigator on the RIA study. "However, because marijuana can be addictive, it cannot be used to treat stress-related mood disorders such as anxiety. An alternative strategy may be to directly target the 'brain's own marijuana.'"
The success of such a strategy requires a better understanding of how endocannabinoid moderates stress-related behaviors and how stress and stress hormones activate the endocannabinoid system.
Haj-Dahmane and his co-investigator, Troy Wood, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, will examine the relationships between stress, stress-related behavior and addiction using a combination of electrophysiological, pharmacological and neurochemical approaches. They believe the study also may lay the foundation for better pharmacotherapy for stress-related mood disorders.
SOM names Becker senior associate dean
Brian E. Becker, professor of organization and human resources, has been appointed senior associate dean in the School of Management.
In his new role, Becker will work with Dean John M. Thomas on the review and implementation of the school's strategic plan. He also will work with the school's associate deans to ensure that both degree and nondegree programs are fully aligned with the school's mission and goals.
In addition, Becker will assist the dean in the development and implementation of policies related to all aspects of faculty performance and evaluation, including promotion and tenure.
Becker joined the faculty of the School of Management in 1977 after receiving his doctorate in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
His academic expertise is in corporate strategic human resources, negotiations and the effect of human resources on firm performance. Becker's current research interests focus on the intersection of human resources and organizational strategy, and his work has contributed empirical support for the emerging area of strategic human resources management.
He is the author or co-author of numerous scholarly articles and books, including "The Workforce Scorecard: Managing Human Capital to Execute Strategy" (March 2005, Harvard Business School Press).
Becker served as chair of the Department of Organization and Human Resources in the School of Management for more than a decade and is now the chair of the school's strategic management committee. He teaches a course on negotiations in several of the school's MBA programs.