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Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Department of Biochemistry
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Research Centers

The department’s associated research centers include:

  • Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center
    7/23/26

    Director: Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD

    Works to extend the boundaries of knowledge about neurological diseases and disorders through innovative neuroimaging research techniques and the application of bioinformatics resources.

  • Canon Stroke and Vascular Research Center
    7/23/26

    Director: Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD

    Focuses on image optimization and dose reduction, device development and hemodynamics in order to better understand the physiological mechanisms that produce brain aneurysms.

  • Center for Research in Cardiovascular Medicine
    7/23/26

    Director: John M. Canty, MD

    Conducts translational research in preclinical models of ischemic heart disease and pursues parallel patient-oriented investigation in humans with chronic coronary artery disease.

  • Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions
    7/23/26

    Director: Kenneth E. Leonard, PhD

    Contributes to research in three primary areas: etiology, prevention and treatment; social, psychological and neurophysiological aspects of addiction; and health and medical aspects of addiction.

  • Institute for Myelin and Glia Exploration
    7/23/26

    Director: Lawrence Wrabetz, MD

    Supports basic and clinical research related to the cause, prevention and treatment of myelin-related diseases, such as Krabbe and other leukodystrophies, multiple sclerosis and hereditary neuropathies.

  • Ira G. Ross Eye Institute Research Center
    7/23/26

    Director: Steven J. Fliesler, PhD

    Nationally innovative collaboration among the UB Department of Ophthalmology, the Elizabeth Pierce Olmsted, MD, Center for the Visually Impaired and University Ophthalmology Services.

  • Toxicology Research Center (TRC)
    7/23/26

    Director: Paul J. Kostyniak, PhD/Pharmacology and Toxicology

    Facilitates research; provides occupational and environmental health and safety training and educational programs; and houses the Atlantic OSHA Training Center.

  • UB Clinical and Translational Science Institute
    8/19/26

    An integrated academic home for UB’s outstanding clinical research and translational science, and the hub of the Buffalo Translational Consortium. The CTSI provides innovative research tools, support, training, resources and coordination.

  • UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences
    8/19/26

    Home to more than 250 scientists and research staff with physical, biological and computational expertise who are engaged in interdisciplinary translational research collaborations.

  • Witebsky Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology
    8/19/26

    Brings together researchers and their students/fellows interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of infectious diseases and host defenses against them.

Researcher Spotlight

  • Comparative Genomics
    7/23/26

    Norma Nowak, PhD, studies global comparative genomics and differential gene expression analyses. She contributed to the creation of the BAC libraries used to sequence the human genome.

  • Copper and Iron Transport
    7/23/26

    Daniel Kosman, PhD, studies how organisms acquire and metabolize iron and copper, intrinsically toxic metals essential to cellular respiration and oxygen transport. One of his goals is to develop antifungal drugs to treat infections in humans.

  • Brain Function and Disease
    7/23/26

    Gabriela Popescu, PhD, is studying NMDA receptors in the brain, which are involved in synaptic development, plasticity, memory and learning, as well as in pathologies such as stroke, neurodegeneration, chronic pain, addiction, schizophrenia and epilepsy.

  • Programmed for Obesity
    7/23/26

    Mulchand Patel, PhD, is a specialist in nutritional biochemistry. He found that fetuses of obese mother rats were programmed in utero to develop obesity in adulthood, and was the first to show that this metabolic programming occurs in the fetal hypothalamus.

  • Repairing Heart Tissue
    7/23/26

    Te-Chung Lee, PhD, demonstrated for the first time, in an animal model, that injecting adult bone marrow stem cells into skeletal muscle can repair cardiac tissue, reversing heart failure. He and his team showed that this non-invasive procedure increased heart cells two-fold.

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