2022 Retrospective: Commitment to Excellence

Getting a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a career-crowning achievement for any medical researcher. This fall, within one week, it happened to two members of the Department of Pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, both of whom also happen to be Jacobs School alumnae.

Yongho Bae, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, has received a $250,000 sponsored research award from the Empire Discovery Institute (EDI) to investigate the role a novel mechanotherapeutic target, discovered in his lab, may have on vascular and cardiac stiffening commonly associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). 

Gil I. Wolfe, MD, UB Distinguished Professor and the Irvin and Rosemary Smith Chair of the Department of Neurology, is involved in trials of FcRn (neonatal FC receptor) antagonists that offers a new approach to treating myasthenia gravis (MG).

A promising alternative to opioids being developed in the Buffalo and Rochester regions is one step closer to meeting a critical need in pain management, thanks to a pivotal business partnership and exclusive licensing agreements with the University at Buffalo.

For teens who have struggled with obesity, it probably sounded too good to be true: a weekly injection that could help them control their eating and lead to weight loss. But the results of the clinical trial on the drug semaglutide, released earlier this month in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the discipline’s major conference, Obesity Week, turned out to be better than anything the participants — or even the researchers — expected.

Kathleen E. Bethin, MD, PhD, clinical professor of pediatrics and her research team have been lauded by the Pediatric Diabetes Consortium (PDC) for their contributions to the PIONEER TEENS clinical trial sponsored by the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences researchers who have changed the way concussions are treated have been awarded $4.8 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct a clinical trial to evaluate whether incorporating elements from the Buffalo Concussion Protocol to the DOD’s current concussion protocol would improve outcomes for active members of the military who sustain a concussion.

A Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences researcher has been awarded a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute grant to explore how changes in arterial stiffness elicit vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) behaviors that contribute to cardiovascular disease.

A team of Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences researchers has published a paper that provides novel guidelines for clinicians when discussing brain atrophy with their multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Even before she had made up her mind about which career path to choose, emergency medicine has been at the center of E. Brooke Lerner’s professional life. 

“Your baby has a genetic disease.” It’s one of the most terrifying things that new parents can hear. Yet it frequently turns out not to be true because, while newborn screening is extremely accurate for many common conditions, screening accuracy rates for rare — even fatal — conditions can be abysmal, according to genetics specialists.

The New England Journal of Medicine published a paper Nov. 3 that described how children with high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma responded to a targeted therapy for the disease that has been effective in adults.

Peter L. Elkin, MD, UB Distinguished Professor and chair of biomedical informatics at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has been awarded an R25 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine (NLM) to train underrepresented minorities in biomedical informatics and data science.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients may be better equipped to stave off the cognitive decline that the disease can cause by using a smartphone-based app now under development at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, the A. Conger Goodyear Professor and Chair of pediatrics, is co-author on a new paper that validates the long-term efficacy and safety of metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) for treatment of adolescent obesity.

The Department of Psychiatry’s 17th Annual Comprehensive Review of Psychiatry conference featured an array of internationally renowned speakers updating the latest advances in the diagnosis and management of a wide array of psychiatric disorders.

The University at Buffalo Center for Advanced Technology in Big Data and Health Sciences (UB CAT) has awarded six life sciences companies a total of $253,000 to support new biomedical technologies.

As public health experts cautiously anticipate how COVID-19 will play out this fall, Michael W. Russell, PhD, professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology, is reiterating that substantial immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus will only happen with a vaccine that can be delivered through the nose.

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences team that a decade ago helped usher in a new era in acute stroke treatment has turned its innovative approach to addressing the rare but potentially deadly phenomena when multiple blood clots strike deep in the veins of the brain.

Researchers at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and their collaborators have developed powerful new ways to study and potentially reverse the cellular mechanisms that cause mitochondrial diseases and premature aging.

Developing a more effective vaccine for tuberculosis is the goal of research led by Jonathan F. Lovell, PhD, SUNY Empire Innovation Associate Professor of biomedical engineering, that has been funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, A. Conger Goodyear Professor and Chair of pediatrics, is launching the first international pediatric cardio-oncology conference this fall.

A Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences scientist has launched two pilot studies that focus on how dietary interventions might affect cancer treatment. 

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences hosted the 2022 National Library of Medicine (NLM) T15 Informatics Training Conference June 22-24.

A convergent mechanism may be responsible for how two top-ranked genetic risk factors for autism spectrum disorder/intellectual disability (ASD/ID) lead to these neurodevelopmental disorders. 

UB receives $4 million from NIAID to develop new treatments that prevent 'hypermutations' in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The scientist, who with a collaborator, invented and developed the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology that is the basis for Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines, embodies the textbook definition of perseverance.

New research led by Jian Feng, PhD, professor of physiology and biophysics, has important implications for developing future treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD), a progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement, often including tremors.

Paxlovid, the COVID-19 medicine developed by Pfizer, is being evaluated in Western New York in children who are symptomatic with COVID-19 infection, and who are at risk of progression to severe disease.

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia had a 13.5% survival advantage when treated with a combination of leukotriene inhibitors (LTIs) and the steroid dexamethasone.

New research on an enigmatic neurotransmitter receptor in the brain reveals it may be a promising target for future novel therapeutic treatments for a host of neurological diseases, according to Gabriela K. Popescu, PhD, professor of biochemistry.

Sherice Simpson is the eighth Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences medical student to participate in the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP).

A UB program provides local presentations to help the community understand brain health and disease, maintain quality of life, and recognize the positive impacts of healthy habits on aging.

Mausma Bawa, MD, a trainee in the neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship, has been selected as one of three early-stage investigators — in collaboration with the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) Junior Section — to present at the 125th annual meeting of the Japan Pediatric Society April 15-17 in Fukushima, Japan.

Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, is co-author on a study that shows low doses of pioglitazone used to treat diabetes in patients with insulin resistance may be preferable. In this study, patients had a history of previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). 

A study led by Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences researchers sheds light on understanding the genetic causes of pediatric cardiomyopathy.

A study in PLOS One suggests that the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic saw increases in wine and spirit sales, accompanied by notable changes in the relationship between alcohol sales and people’s visits to businesses that sell alcohol.

A study led by senior author Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, shows that bariatric surgery not only treats obesity and reverses Type 2 diabetes, it also reverses low testosterone levels in severely obese male teens.

Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, is senior author on a new study that shows healthier hearts in long-term childhood cancer survivors treated with a new drug, dexrazoxane, to protect their hearts from heart-damaging chemotherapy — even in those treated nearly 20 years ago.

E. Brooke Lerner, PhD, and Brian Clemency, DO, professors of emergency medicine, are co-principal investigators on a new study of age-based dosing of seizure medications in the prehospital setting. 

Two partnerships will provide tools for more efficient testing, and to bring wastewater monitoring to the region’s four other counties.

Mark D. Hicar, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases, has been awarded a $100,000 Microbial Pathogenesis in Alzheimer’s Disease Grant by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Foundation to explore a potential link between infectious diseases and Alzheimer’s disease.

Steven D. Schwaitzberg, MD, professor and chair of surgery, has partnered with Swiss medical education company VirtaMed to trial one of the company’s new mixed-reality laparoscopic simulators — the LaparoS. 

A joint study between researchers at the University at Buffalo and UCLA demonstrates for the first time that a specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that teaches information processing skills can modulate key components of the brain-gut-microbiome axis in some of the most severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients.

Researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering have successfully freeze-dried a liposome-based liquid vaccine formula that could be developed for potential use in COVID-19 vaccines.

A national study led by Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences emergency medicine physicians has found that patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are treated with an inhaled steroid are significantly less likely to require emergency department care or hospitalization due to COVID-19 than those treated with placebo.

POP Biotechnologies Inc. (POP BIO) is one four startups founded or co-founded by University at Buffalo researchers that has received Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards from the National Institutes of Health to advance research on potential vaccines or therapies for a variety of diseases.

A type of acupressure focused on pressure points in the ear could be a promising treatment for functional abdominal pain disorder (FAPD), a challenging group of disorders that cause chronic abdominal pain in 13.5 percent of children and adolescents.

Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences medical students celebrated their multicultural backgrounds at the annual Taste of Culture event Dec. 2 at the Jacobs School building.

Nineteen faculty members with clinical and research experience have joined the departments of Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopaedics, Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, Pediatrics, and Physiology and Biophysics.

Three members of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences faculty have been honored with SUNY Diversity in Medicine Mentoring Awards.

The late Jonathan D. Daniels, MD ’98, had a clear mission in life — to erase the term “underrepresented minorities in medicine” from the health care lexicon.

The legacy of the late Jonathan D. Daniels, MD ’98, lives on through the many students he mentored while encouraging them to apply to medical school and those he guided through its rigorous environment once they arrived.

A Black Men in White Coats chapter has been established at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and is named in honor of the late Jonathan D. Daniels, MD ’98, the school’s former associate director of admissions who died July 4 in a fire at his North Buffalo home.

UB’s Visiting Future Faculty Program (VITAL) returned for an encore as six outstanding doctoral students visited the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences as part of an initiative to increase the number of faculty at UB from traditionally underrepresented populations in North America.

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is seeking to put Buffalo on the map by leading the future of health care innovation in Western New York. During her first State of the School address, Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, presented how the Jacobs School is intent on making that goal a reality through impactful research, education and clinical programs.

Women in medicine were celebrated and strategies to overcome underrepresentation in leadership positions were discussed during the UB DoctHERS Annual Symposium.

Nineteen faculty members with clinical and research experience have joined the departments of Biomedical Informatics, Family Medicine, Medicine, Orthopaedics, Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, Pediatrics, Physiology and Biophysics, and Psychiatry.

In 1939, Sol Messinger, MD ’57, and his parents boarded the MS St. Louis, the ship carrying 900 Jewish refugees who were desperately fleeing Nazi Germany. 

The more than 200 people who gathered in-person and remotely on Aug. 13 for the fifth annual Igniting Hope conference at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences did so in the aftermath of a series of unprecedented losses sustained recently by the community.

Hundreds of children in the city of Buffalo received free backpacks filled with school supplies July 31 as the result of the first Jonathan D. Daniels, MD, Memorial School Drive: The Next Generation of Transformational Leaders.

An annual conference that has received national attention for its work addressing the social determinants of health is being seen this year as one important way for the community to heal and move forward after the devastating, racially motivated mass shooting of May 14.

The Women’s Vascular Summit, hosted at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, continues to shine a light on disparities in vascular care between men and women and to promote research and education to initiate change.

The school lit its atrium orange and encouraged its members to wear the color to honor those who have died or been injured by gun violence.

Ebony Omotola McGee, PhD, has seen bias in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) firsthand, and she talked about her experiences and solutions to fix the problem during a lecture and workshop April 7.

New CTSI online library of videos created by UB faculty and staff content experts contribute to a diverse and well-trained workforce of investigators and research staff.

Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences faculty and leadership provided their insights during a virtual symposium titled “When Providers Face Bias: The Impact and How to Cope.”

A summer program launched by the Department of Surgery and designed to encourage underrepresented medical students to pursue surgery turned into a dramatic learning opportunity, for both the students and the department. 

Recognizing and overcoming systemic barriers preventing Black men from becoming medical doctors was the focus of a documentary film screening and panel discussion at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

A new medical curriculum with anti-racism at its core is being designed and implemented at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Hard conversations. That’s what Steven D. Schwaitzberg, MD, said was the purpose of the second annual “Beyond the Knife” lecture. 

Ten faculty members with clinical and research experience have joined the departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, Ophthalmology and Surgery at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Darshana Govind, PhD, extols the virtues of researching artificial intelligence. She’s so enthusiastic about it, she wants to encourage more women to enter the field.

The Igniting Hope Conference continues to focus on the urgent challenges of long-standing health disparities in Buffalo’s African American community.

As the COVID-19 pandemic maintains its grip on the world, physicians at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences continue to step up in a myriad of ways to help the Western New York community.

Medical students with an interest in dermatology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences have been coordinating community outreach events to spread educational and empowering messages.

The Lighthouse Free Medical Clinic’s (LFMC) annual gala fundraiser returned to an in-person event this year and raised $20,000 to help fund the student-run free clinic.

Stephen T. Koury, PhD, research associate professor of biotechnical and clinical laboratory sciences, has been awarded a $1.3 million grant that will allow high school students and teachers the opportunity to perform genome sequencing of bacteria.

UB is sponsoring a virtual talk on “The COVID-19 Vaccines: Science vs. Anti-science” by prominent vaccine scientist and “misinformation antagonist” Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, on June 9 at noon.

The Jacobs School community expressed its thanks to retired Buffalo police officer Aaron Salter, whose actions on May 14 likely saved lives.

Dara Kass met with UB and community partners about the innovative opioid treatment program developed by UB physicians.

UB’s Global Health Day Symposium brought together experts from WHO, NIH and UB to discuss the next stages of response to the pandemic.

Incoming residents at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences had the opportunity to make improvements to the community and get to know their classmates during the first GME Morning of Service.

The University at Buffalo and UBMD Physicians’ Group have launched the region’s only long COVID registry in order to learn more about the condition and to connect Western New Yorkers with treatment options and the potential to participate in clinical trials.

Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, recently spoke on the impact the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade will have on obstetricians and gynecologists.

A leading psychologist challenged her audience to view love as co-experienced positive emotions during her presentation at the 20th annual Lawrence & Nancy Golden Memorial Lectureship on Mind-Body Medicine.  

Residents of the Fruit Belt, Cold Spring and Masten Park neighborhoods and others received expert care for their feet at a recent free clinic organized by surgeons and medical students from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Viewing intentional violence as a public health issue has led Robert Gore, MD ’02, down an interesting path, both personally and professionally.

The request by children’s hospitals nationwide this month that the federal government declare a formal state of emergency given the surge in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and flu cases was no surprise to Oscar G. Gómez, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics.

As the holiday season kicks into high gear, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences physicians and scientists have recommendations for how people can stay safe and healthy this holiday season amid some increasingly concerning signs.

Jennifer L. Haak, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, has been honored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation for her displays of humanism in her work with underserved and vulnerable populations.

With extreme winds, frigid temperatures and blizzard conditions, the winter storm expected to pummel much of the nation over the Christmas weekend will be one for the record books. David Holmes, MD, has plenty of advice on how to ride out the storm safely.