Hemophilia Center of WNY Awards Grant to Jacobs School

The grant, which establishes The Robert Long Career Development Award, is an important first step in ensuring that local patients who are affected by hemophilia and other bleeding and clotting disorders will receive the highest level of care without having to travel outside of Western New York. Robert Long is founder and board chairman of the Hemophilia Center of Western New York.

“We are very grateful for this generous award from the Hemophilia Center of Western New York,” said Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. “It is a strategic investment that directly impacts the quality of health care in our community by working to close a gap in specialty care. Not only will it help attract and retain top-level physician-scientists who specialize in nonmalignant blood disorders, but it will help ensure that generations of specialists in this field are trained in Buffalo.”

The initial recipient of The Robert Long Career Development Award is Beverly A. Schaefer, MD, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology.

Schaefer is an attending pediatric hematologist/oncologist at the Roswell Park Oishei Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Program. She is also a physician with UBMD Pediatrics.

Through the award, 50 percent of Schaefer’s time will be protected for intensive research, evenly divided between investigations conducted at the Jacobs School and the Hemophilia Center of Western New York.

A native of Buffalo, Schaefer, who also serves on the faculty of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, is board-certified in pediatrics and pediatric hematology/oncology. She specializes in the care of patients with disorders of hemostasis and thrombosis (bleeding disorders and blood clots).

“I am honored to be the recipient of the career development award, which will support my work in clinical and translational investigation. I am committed to bringing novel research opportunities to the patients in our community affected by bleeding and clotting disorders,” Schaefer said. “I am passionate about medical education and am optimistic that this award will help to attract and retain physicians in our community who are skilled in the management of patients with bleeding and clotting disorders.”