In Memoriam- Faculty and Leadership
James P. Nolan Jr., MD
Former Chair of Medicine and Physician Leader
James P. Nolan Jr., MD, former professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, died on June 30, 2021. He was 92.
Nolan, who earned his medical degree from Yale in 1955 and trained in internal medicine and hepatology at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, returned to his hometown of Buffalo in 1963 with his wife. He served as professor in the Department of Medicine and as chair of the department from 1978 to 1995. He also served as chief of service in the Department of Medicine at Erie County Medical Center from 1980 to 1995. He was awarded the title of SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in 1995 and retired in 1999.
With Evan Calkins, MD, Nolan oversaw the growth of the department from 50 faculty to more than 150. In the 1960s, Nolan and Calkins developed the department through Buswell Fellowships, increasing the depth of research and recruiting future division heads. Of those faculty they recruited, some 25 went on to chair departments or hold similar appointments elsewhere around the world.
Nolan also led an active research program in liver disease and the effects of endotoxins. He and his group made key discoveries that led to a better understanding of the role the toxins play in liver disease when it is affected by alcoholism and hepatitis.
Teaching was always a top priority for Nolan. He was selected by residents twice to receive the White Coat Award, which is given to faculty members demonstrating excellence in teaching.
In the 1990s, Nolan became increasingly involved in academic medicine in his role as president of the Association of Professors of Medicine and chair of the Board of Regents for the American College of Physicians. Both organizations provided a forum for him to address his concern about the trend toward specialization in internal medicine. Nolan participated in the national debate at the time and attended meetings on the subject at the White House.
In 1994, Nolan was elected to chair of the American College of Physicians Board of Regents. He had served on the 26-member board since 1989 and was vice chair in 1993. Prior to joining the board, he was the society's governor for New York State for four years, winning the Governor of the Year Award in 1988, and was president of the New York State chapter from 1987-88.
The following year, he was recognized as a Master in the American College of Physicians for his many contributions to internal medicine and to the American College of Physicians.
The author of more than 100 articles and abstracts, Nolan has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Medicine Experimental and Clinical, and as a reviewer for a number of prestigious journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine and Annals of Internal Medicine.
Joginder N. Bhayana, MD
—Heart transplant pioneer and friend of the school
Joginder N. Bhayana, MD, a surgeon and philanthropist who performed the first heart transplant in Buffalo and led Buffalo’s heart transplant program, died Jan. 2 in Canterbury Woods after a long illness. He was 84.
A native of Multan, Pakistan, Bhayana earned his medical degree at MGM Medical College in Indore, India, after which he completed residency training and a fellowship in cardiac surgery at Georgetown University.
An associate professor of surgery at UB, Bhayana worked as a heart surgeon from 1973 to 2000 at Kaleida Health’s Buffalo General Medical Center, a UB teaching affiliate. He also served as assistant chief of surgical services at the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He performed the first heart transplant in Buffalo and served as co-leader and then director of the former heart transplant program at Buffalo General, retiring in 2000.
Bhayana and his wife, the late Ved, established a scholarship fund that each year provides assistance to two UB medical students who are from Western New York and have demonstrated financial need.
Survivors include two sons, Rohit and Ranjan, and six grandchildren.
Peter A. Nickerson, PhD, who taught for nearly 50 years in the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, died on Feb. 2 in Heathwood Assisted Living, Amherst, N.Y. He was 75.
A native of Harwich, Mass., Nickerson earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a master’s degree and a PhD from Clark University, where he was a NASA predoctoral fellow. Known for his research into high blood pressure, he was recruited to join UB’s faculty in 1967. Over the course of his career, he authored or co-authored 65 publications.
Nickerson was well-liked and respected by the medical and dental students he taught, and many kept in touch with him long after they graduated. He was director of Pathology Graduate Studies from 1974 to 2015 and developed such innovative initiatives as the medical school’s early admission program.
Outside of the classroom, Nickerson immersed himself in university life. He served as chair of the UB Faculty Senate for several terms and on dozens of departmental, university and SUNY committees over the years. He was chair of the Medical Faculty Council, a SUNY senator, president of the SUNY-Buffalo chapter of Sigma Xi and chair of the UB Faculty Senate for five terms.
Nickerson, who retired in March 2015, also was active in the community. He was a member and former president of the Western New York Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Lani J. Burkman, PhD, research associate professor emeritus of gynecology and obstetrics and widely renowned expert on male infertility, died March 4 at her home on Grand Island, NY, after a struggle with cancer. She was 67.
Born in Santa Barbara, Calif., the former Lani Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of California at Santa Barbara and completed her doctoral studies in physiology at UC Davis in 1982.
She then became a researcher at the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk, Va., the nation’s first in vitro fertilization clinic, where she developed the hemizona assay, a highly regarded sperm function test. Her studies led to the discovery of sperm hyperactivation, a critical stage in the fertilization of an egg.
In 1994, Burkman joined the faculty at UB, where she was director of the Division of Andrology, established an andrology laboratory and studied the effects of tobacco and marijuana use on male fertility.
She retired from UB in 2009 to found LifeCell Dx, a biotech company that uses computer analysis to predict a man’s probability of fertility. She patented a process to assess male fertility over the Internet and helped thousands of couples worldwide.
Survivors include her husband, Thomas W., a retired UB history professor; a daughter, Heather; a son, Wesley; a stepson, J. Bradford; a stepdaughter, Mary Gworek; her father, J. Archie Johnson; a sister, Rena Sperling; two brothers, Rod Johnson and Steve Johnson; and four grandchildren.
Glen Gresham, MD, chair and professor emeritus, rehabilitation medicine, died in Sanibel, FL, on February 24, 2016.
Gresham attended Harvard College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he earned his medical degree in 1958. He completed his residency and fellowship training in Cleveland, OH, and served for two years in the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the CDC, working on polio eradication and field trials of the new measles vaccine.
Gresham began his career in academic medicine at Case Western Reserve, then continued to the Ohio State University, Yale, Tufts and the University at Buffalo. In Boston, he was a leader in stroke outcome research in the Framingham Heart Study and served on a variety of federal task forces on stroke rehabilitation. In Buffalo, he developed the first spinal cord injury unit at Erie County Medical Center and led program development for post-polio syndrome and traumatic brain injury.
A Founding Fellow of the American Rheumatism Association, Gresham received numerous awards, including the prestigious Walter P. Cooke Award from the UB Alumni Association.
At UB, he supported the annual Glen E. Gresham, MD Visiting Professorship in Rehabilitation, the Medical Emeritus Faculty Society at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and the Glen E. and Phyllis K. Gresham Endowment to the School of Nursing.
He is survived by Phyllis, his wife of 58 years; children Stephen, David, Elizabeth and Jennifer; five grandchildren; and his sister Nancy.
Avery K. Ellis, MD ’77, PhD ’79, MBA, senior associate dean for medical curriculum and associate professor of medicine and physiology, died suddenly on November 7, 2014 in Chicago, where he was attending a medical conference. He was 64.
Prior to assuming the medical curriculum deanship in 2008, Ellis directed UB’s cardiology fellowship and served as chief of staff at the VA Western New York Healthcare System.
“Teaching was one of Avery’s passions, and he was a master at it,” said David Milling, MD ’93, senior associate dean for student and academic affairs. “He had a critical impact on our medical students’ education — especially, but not limited to, the preclinical years. In the Office of Medical Education, he was an integral team member. His unique sense of humor was known to all of us, and we will miss him dearly.”
A Buffalo native, Ellis graduated from Cornell University and received his doctorate in physiology and medical degree from UB. He completed his residency and cardiology fellowship at Stanford University Hospital. In 1999, he received a master’s degree in business administration from Duke University.
Surviving Ellis are his wife of 40 years, the former Nitza Farhi; two sons, Robert A. and Noah D.; his mother, Mary Ann; a brother, Neil R.; and a sister, Laura.
Memorial gifts in his honor can be directed to: UB Foundation, Office of Medical Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement, 901 Kimball Tower, Buffalo, NY 14214. Please note that your gift is in honor of Dr. Avery Ellis.
Gerald L. Logue, MD, professor of medicine and chief of hematology, died suddenly on June 7, 2015.
Known for his commitment to medical training, Logue devoted himself to supporting and enhancing dialogue on ethical and humanistic issues in health care. He played a major role in developing the clinical ethics program in Western New York and was co-director of UB’s Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care with Stephen E. Wear, PhD, associate professor of medicine.
“He was an inspiring, engaged teacher and mentor whose ongoing commitment to medical education spanned all its levels—from medical student to fellow—and then to all of us who were honored to be his colleagues,” says Wear.
In 1985, Logue received a White Coat Award for outstanding teaching and contributions to house staff, and in 1993 he was awarded a Commendation for Teaching Excellence.
He was chief of medicine and then chief of staff at the Buffalo VA Medical Center, chief of the Division of Hematology in UB’s Department of Medicine and vice chair of medicine in 1990. He also was a clinician with UBMD Internal Medicine.
Logue received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship in hematology at Duke University Medical Center.
He is survived by his wife Joelle, three sons and two grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to the Gerald Logue, MD Memorial Fund at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, care of the UB Foundation, P.O. Box 900, Buffalo, NY 14226.
Charles W. Bishop, PhD, emeritus professor of medicine, died Jan. 11, 2014, in his Amherst home. He was 93.
A native of Elmira, NY, Bishop earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Syracuse University and a doctorate biochemistry from the University of Rochester, where he was a research associate on the Manhattan Project during World War II.
Bishop joined the UB School of Medicine in 1947 as an instructor in biochemistry and medicine.
In 1955, he was awarded a National Institutes of Health fellowship to study at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. On his return, he focused his research on the metabolism of red blood cells and blood preservation. He also served as head of the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory at Buffalo General Medical Center.
Bishop founded the Blood Information Service and published more than 65 research papers, along with co-editing the book The Red Blood Cell.
Syracuse University presented him with the Dean of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2004, and the SU Club of WNY named him a Distinguished Alumni in 2006.
Bishop had an early interest in medical informatics and computer use in diagnosis. He created the system Framemed, a Framework for Medical Knowledge, and was a proponent of electronic personal health records that people could carry with them at all times.
Bishop’s wife of 64 years, the former Beverly Petterson, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of physiology and biophysics at UB, died in 2008.
Survivors include a son, Geoffrey; and a grandson.
Richard V. Lee, MD, professor of medicine and a physician in private practice, died suddenly on May 7, 2013 at his home in Orchard Park, N.Y. He was 75.
A UB faculty member since 1976, Lee held positions in pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, social and preventive medicine and anthropology in addition to his primary appointment in medicine.
He also led the Department of Medicine at Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo from 1979 to 1996.
Lee was a renowned leader in obstetrics. He was a founding member of the International Society of Obstetric Medicine, and received its C.G. Barnes Award for outstanding contributions to the field in 2007.
The North American Society of Obstetric Medicine has established a lecture in Lee’s name, to be delivered at its annual meeting.
Lee was passionate about international health, tropical medicine, the challenges inherent in managing medical complications of pregnancy and the health status of geographically isolated human populations.
As director the medical school’s international medicine program, he took graduate students on annual medical expeditions to provide care to people in some of the most remote areas in the world.
Lee’s work with Tibetan refugees in India led to an acquaintance with the Dalai Lama. He later served on the UB committee that brought the spiritual leader to Buffalo in 2006. Lee and his wife also established a fund to support Tibetan students and Tibetan studies at UB.
In addition, Lee consulted for the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center for Health in Housing, based in Buffalo.
Lee earned bachelor’s and medical degrees at Yale University, following in the footsteps of his paternal grandfather, Li Yan Phou, who studied at Yale, and was one of the first Chinese students to be educated in the United States.
Lee completed his residency and postdoctoral training at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Before joining the faculty at UB, he was a professor of medicine at Yale and worked for the Indian Health Service at the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana.
Lee is survived by his wife of 52 years, the former Susan Bradley; two sons, Benjamin and Matthew; two grandchildren and other family members.
John P. Naughton, MD, the longest-serving dean in the history of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, died May 21, 2012. He was 79.
As dean for 21 years (1975-1996) and vice president for clinical affairs for the last 12 of those years, Naughton is credited with elevating the national stature of the medical school, dramatically reshaping UB’s relationship with its affiliated teaching hospitals and improving the university’s ties with the Western New York medical community.
Naughton was one of the key players in establishing UB’s innovative consortium of teaching hospitals—a model that subsequently garnered national attention as a new approach to medical education.
Under his guidance, the school instituted aggressive new approaches to medical training for underrepresented groups and placed a renewed emphasis on programs in primary care medicine.
Naughton also developed the UB Faculty Management Plan, the precursor of UBMD, the university’s physician practice plan.
A graduate of St. Louis University, Naughton received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.
Before coming to UB in 1975 to serve as dean, he was professor of medicine and dean for academic affairs at George Washington University.
Naughton was an internationally known cardiologist with expertise in the prevention of coronary heart disease. He developed the Naughton Treadmill Protocol, widely used in exercise testing.
Naughton was a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine—which he served as president—the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians and the American College of Physicians.
After stepping down as dean in 1996, Naughton returned to the UB faculty as a professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, where he also served as interim chair from 1993 until retiring in 2009.
In 1997, he received the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal, UB’s highest award, given to individuals whose accomplishments have greatly added to the prestige of the city of Buffalo and the university.
Naughton is survived by his partner, Nancy Glieco, a retired medical school staff member; four sons, George, Michael, Thomas and Bruce Naughton, MD, associate professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Geriatrics; two daughters, Marsha Lutostanski and Lisa Bolten; a brother, Joseph M.; and a sister, Anne F. Edlefson.
Fitzhugh Carter Pannill Jr., MD, former UB vice president for health affairs, acting dean and professor of medicine, died June 30, 2012, in New Braunfels, Texas, after a brief illness. He was 91.
Pannill was recruited to UB in 1973, serving as vice president for health affairs and, for the first two years of his tenure, the medical school’s acting dean.
Among other accomplishments, Pannill is credited with integrating the educational programs of the five health science schools and steadying the medical school’s course a little more than a decade after the university merged with the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Under his leadership, John Naughton, MD, was recruited to UB.
A 1945 graduate of Yale University School of Medicine, Pannill trained in internal medicine in Houston and began his career in academic medicine in 1951 at Baylor University Medical College. He subsequently spent six years in private practice before re-entering academic medicine in 1960, holding positions in Philadelphia and Dallas.
In 1965, he was recruited to serve as the founding dean of the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio, a position he held until coming to UB.
At UB, his family and colleagues established the F. Carter Pannill Award in his honor, given annually to a junior faculty member in the Department of Medicine who demonstrates the exemplary bedside teaching that Pannill modeled.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, the former Mildred Treat; a son, Fitzhugh Carter III, MD; two daughters, Elizabeth, and Mary Gilroy; a sister, Lelia Birrell; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.