Jennifer A. Surtees, PhD.

Jennifer A. Surtees, PhD, department chair, brings both scientific distinction and a genuine passion for education and community outreach to her role.

Our Programs

Belong to a strong, collaborative community
9/9/20

Work alongside faculty, peers and intradepartmental scientists who’ll help enhance your research.

 

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Our curriculum is based on the belief that we expect our graduates to be the sum of our collective expertise and to emerge better trained than any one of us.

  • PhD Program
    8/2/24
    As a PhD candidate, you will research in our highly collaborative environment, present your findings on multiple occasions and acquire the skills of a well-rounded, independent research scientist.
  • Master’s Degree Program
    8/26/25
    Our course-and-research-based program include laboratory rotations to provide you opportunities to collaborate and hands-on experience in lab techniques.
  • Undergraduate Program
    5/22/25
    The mission of the Biochemistry BS program is to provide undergraduate students with exceptional preparation for advanced study in medical, dental or graduate school, or for occupations in academic, industrial, medical or governmental settings.
“The work I have completed and skill set I have learned in Dr. Estrada’s lab are perfect to pursue a career at a pharmaceutical company since it is focused on understanding the molecular basis by which a major family of drug metabolizing enzymes works.”
5/13/22

Chris Campomizzi

Doctoral student in biochemistry

“During my time at the Jacobs School, I have learned what it means to be an independent scientist and have learned to ask questions to help me better understand what I’m doing.”
8/19/21

Isabella Lydia Ann Schember
Doctoral student in biochemistry

“Collaboration here is great. There is so much that people are working on that they can offer insight with a different viewpoint.”
9/28/21

Alexandra Ruth Glathar
Doctoral student in biochemistry

“UB taught me to look past the educational setting and learn what I need to do to become a better professional and independent researcher.”
4/23/21

Mohamed Sharif
Doctoral candidate in biochemistry

“While here, I’ve learned a variety of applicable techniques, collaborated with scientists from a range of disciplines, and developed my ability to think critically about research questions.”
1/27/22

Haley Victoria Parker

Trainee in the doctoral program in biochemistry

“The things we can do with bioinformatics are unimaginable. We can use genomic sequences to find cures for diseases and improve agriculture for everyone’s benefit.”
3/8/22

Hasiba Asma
Doctoral candidate in genetics, genomics and bioinformatics

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Collaboration and Research Opportunities

Our intradepartmental and multidisciplinary focus groups collaborate with other scientists with shared interests in specific experimental problems.

We encourage you to be active members of our focus groups. Your involvement will provide you with regular contact with faculty and other students across Buffalo’s larger scientific community.

“My love for genomic stability and DNA damage was born in Dr. Surtees’ lab. Working alongside her and other talented graduate students enabled me to find my niche and dig deeper into the research topic.”
5/6/22

Jumana Badar, MS ’18
Genetics, genomics and bioinformatics

“UB faculty understood where I was and had a vision of where I would need to go.”
12/19/19

Robert W. Maul, PhD ’07
Postdoctoral fellow

“Dr. Lee and I talked about my project daily, and that was the key to pushing ideas forward.”
2/22/21

David Zisa, MD/PhD ’12

Biochemistry

“Working in Dr. Kosman’s lab was a great experience. It brought my interests to an interdisciplinary field between metal biology and neurosciences.”
9/23/21

Changyi Ji, PhD ’16
Biochemistry

“Dr. Popescu is always receptive to my ideas and allows me to take directions that I am most interested in, while keeping me focused and on track.”
7/20/21

Kirstie Cummings, PhD ’16
Biochemistry

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Our Research and Expertise

We develop foundations for more effective therapeutics
11/4/24

Yungki Park, PhD, conducts research he aims to translate into the treatment of demyelinating diseases.

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Our faculty have diverse expertise and are committed to teaching and mentoring in a collaborative environment that provides you practical training in state-of-the art facilities.

The objective of all our research is to determine how a specific component or process within cells works, and how it is integrated with other cellular components.

Learn more about our faculty

Department News

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Our Faculty and Research In The News

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Recent Faculty Publications

See more of our recent publications

Recent Research Funding

  • Molecular Physiology of NMDA Receptors. Gabriela Popescu (Principal Investigator). NINDS. $4,200,000. 5/1/2023-4/1/2031.
  • Characterizing the role of Elevated dNTP pools in sensitizing the replisome. Jennifer Surtees (Principal Investigator). NIGMS. $2,448,745. 9/1/2024-6/1/2029.
  • Regulatory Mechanisms in Salivary Gland Development and Regeneration. Jonathan Bard (Co-Investigator). NIDCR. $3,743,537. 7/1/2024-6/1/2029.
See more of our recent research grants