Recent Research Funding

Our faculty secure major research grants from various National Institutes of Health as well as private sources.

Michael Buck, PhD

  • Protective effects of dietary pulse flours on the transgenerational influence of maternal obesity. Michael Buck (Co-Investigator). United States Department of Agriculture. $480,255. 9/1/2020-2/1/2024.
  • Therapeutic targeting of master regulators in non-canonical AR driven advanced lethal prostate cancers. Michael Buck (Co-Investigator). NCI. $3,823,553. 8/1/2023-7/1/2028.

Rebekah Charney, PhD

  • Examining neurological disability in Mowat-Wilson syndrome using brain organoids. Rebekah Charney (Principal Investigator). The Mowat-Wilson Syndrome Foundation. 7/1/2022-6/1/2025.

Dahong Chen, PhD

  • Chromatin architectural factor-mediated epigenetic regulation of neuronal remodeling during development. Dahong Chen (Principal Investigator). NIH. 1/1/2024-1/1/2027.

D. Fernando Estrada, PhD

  • Structural regulation in mitochondrial vitamin-D and vitamin-A metabolizing cytochromes P450. D. Fernando Estrada (Principal Investigator). National Institute of General Medical Sciences. $1,987,200. 9/1/2019-8/1/2024.
  • Impact of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cytochrome P450 enzymes and secondary metabolites on drug metabolism and disposition in the cystic fibrosis patient. D. Fernando Estrada (Co-Principal Investigator). NIAID. $632,183. 1/1/2024-1/1/2028.
  • Noncompetitive inhibition of CYP121 dimers of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. D. Fernando Estrada (Principal Investigator). NIAID. $442,750. 7/1/2024-7/1/2026.

Lee Ann Garrett-Sinha, PhD

  • Exploring Roles for Transcription Factor Ets1 in Sjogren's Syndrome. Lee Ann Garrett-Sinha (Principal Investigator). NIH, NIDCR. $173,115. 4/1/2023-3/1/2024.

Marc Halfon, PhD

  • Mechanisms of Gene Regulatory Network Evolution. Marc Halfon (Principal Investigator). NSF. $1,106,456. 9/1/2019-8/1/2023.
  • Regulatory Element Discovery in Sequenced Insect Species. Marc Halfon (Principal Investigator). USDA. $445,911. 6/1/2019-5/1/2023.
  • REDfly: The regulatory element database for Drosophila and other insects. Marc Halfon (Principal Investigator). NIH/NIGMS. $1,415,154. 9/1/2021-8/1/2024.
  • Measuring functional similarity between transcriptional enhancers using deep learning. Marc Halfon (Co-Investigator). NIH/NHGRI. $118,818. 9/1/2021-8/1/2023.

Daniel Kosman, PhD

  • Ferroportin and APP: Regulation of Iron Trafficking at the Blood-Brain Barrier. Daniel Kosman (Principal Investigator). NIDDS. $1,955,930. 8/1/2017-5/1/2024.
  • Molecular mechanisms of small molecule iron chelating antioxidants. Daniel Kosman (Principal Investigator). Alterity Therapeutics Annual MRSA 2020-2023 Dollar amount below for 2023. $253,573. 1/1/2020-12/1/2023.

Techung Lee, PhD

  • Poly(I:C) Drug Repurposing and SFRP-2 Gene Therapy in Tooth Regeneration. Techung Lee (Co-Principal Investigator). Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. $470,400. 2/1/2024-1/1/2028.

Norma Nowak, PhD

  • The Metagenomics Education Partnership. Norma Nowak (Co-Investigator). NIH/NIGMS. $1,288,542. 6/1/2020-4/1/2025.
  • A UB-Buffalo Public School Partnership to improve student achievement in Biological Sciences. Norma Nowak (Co-Principal Investigator). Cullen Foundation. $94,700. 9/1/2019-7/1/2023.
  • Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Western New York. Norma Nowak (Co-Investigator). NYSDOH. $2,000,000. 10/1/2021-6/1/2024.
  • Personalizing Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC). Norma Nowak (Principal Investigator). Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo. $22,380. 1/1/2023-12/1/2023.
  • CRSC: ThermoFisher-GBC project. Norma Nowak (Principal Investigator). ThermoFisher Scientific. 1/1/2018-12/1/2026.
  • CRSC: ThermoFisher GBC project. Norma Nowak (Principal Investigator). ThermoFisher Scientific. 1/1/2018-12/1/2026.
  • Human miRNA Sequencing. Norma Nowak (Principal Investigator). VA. $183,213. 9/1/2023-9/1/2028.

Yungki Park, PhD

  • Role of Pacs2 in central nervous system myelination. Yungki Park (Principal Investigator). National Institutes of Health. $438,625. 7/1/2021-12/1/2023.

Mulchand Patel, PhD

  • Protective effects of dietary pulse flours on the transgenerational influence of maternal obesity. Mulchand Patel (Co-Investigator). USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture. $480,255. 9/1/2020-9/1/2023.
  • Alpha Lipoic acid as maternal supplement in obese pregnancies. Mulchand Patel (Co-Principal Investigator). NIH, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. $438,625. 2/1/2022-1/1/2024.
  • Protective mechanisms of pulse crop consumption in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in mothers and offspring across life stages. Mulchand Patel (Co-Principal Investigator). USDA, USDA Pulse Crop Health Initiative. $421,744. 8/1/2023-7/1/2026.

Gabriela Popescu, PhD

  • Permeation Mechanisms in NMDA receptors. Gabriela Popescu (Principal Investigator). NIH/NINDS. 3/1/2016-2/1/2022.
  • Gating Mechanism of NMDA receptors. Gabriela Popescu (Principal Investigator). NIH/NINDS. $343,668. 4/1/2019-4/1/2024.
  • Experience-Dependent Reorganization of Excitatory Synapse Connectivity. Gabriela Popescu (Co-Principal Investigator). NIH/NIMH/R01. $589,143. 4/1/2019-4/1/2024.
  • Aptinyx Compound on NMDA receptor. Gabriela Popescu (Principal Investigator). Aptinyx. 2/1/2021-3/1/2022.
  • Molecular Physiology of NMDA Receptors. Gabriela Popescu (Principal Investigator). NINDS. $4,200,000. 5/1/2023-4/1/2031.

Christine Schaner Tooley, PhD

  • Expanding the Biological Roles of N-terminal methylation. Christine Schaner Tooley (Principal Investigator). NIGMS. $1,978,690. 1/1/2022-12/1/2026.

Satrajit Sinha, PhD

  • Genomic and epigenomic investigations of the transcriptional regulatory network of skin keratinocytes in defined genetic models. Satrajit Sinha (Principal Investigator). NIAMS. 3/1/2018-12/1/2023.
  • Genomic and functional investigations of the transcriptional regulatory network of salivary gland morphogenesis and stem cell fate choices in defined genetic models. Satrajit Sinha (Co-Principal Investigator). NIDCR. 3/1/2018-2/1/2024.
  • High resolution genomic and epigenomic mapping of the human salivary gland. Satrajit Sinha (Principal Investigator). NIH. $440,922. 8/1/2023-7/1/2025.
  • Genomic and functional investigations of the transcriptional regulatory network of tooth enamel development. Satrajit Sinha (Co-Investigator). NIH. $627,934. 7/1/2023-6/1/2028.

Jennifer Surtees, PhD

  • Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae to discover and assess genetic factors that influence TNR dynamics. Jennifer Surtees (Principal Investigator). Pfizer Inc. $569,735. 6/1/2021-6/1/2023.
  • Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Erie County. Jennifer Surtees (Principal Investigator). Erie County Department of Health. $250,000. 6/1/2021-12/1/2021.
  • Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Western New York. Jennifer Surtees (Principal Investigator). New York State Department of Health `. $5,700,000. 9/1/2021-7/1/2026.
  • Integrated Ecosystems for Pandemic Prevention. Jennifer Surtees (Principal Investigator). NSF. $1,000,000. 9/1/2022-2/1/2025.
  • Role of Msh2-Msh3 in determining outcomes in pathways of DNA metabolism. Jennifer Surtees (Principal Investigator). National Science Foundation. $400,000. 9/1/2023-8/1/2027.
  • 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.

Mark Sutton, PhD

  • Coordination of High Fidelity Replication with Mutagenic Translesion Synthesis. Mark Sutton (Principal Investigator). NIH/GMS. $1,414,219. 2/1/2019-11/1/2024.
  • Purification and Initial Biochemical Analysis of the P. aeruginosa ImuABC Error-Prone DNA Polymerase. Mark Sutton (Principal Investigator). NIH, NIAID. $155,335. 2/1/2020-1/1/2023.
  • Novel Combination Therapies to Combat Hypermutable Carbapenem-Resistant P. aeruginosa. Mark Sutton (Co-Principal Investigator). NIH, NIAID. $3,850,992. 5/1/2022-4/1/2027.

Mary Taub, Ph.D.

  • Regulation of the Kidney Cancer Epigenome by Oncometabolite L-2-Hydroxyglutarate. Mary Taub (Co-Principal Investigator). NCI. $372,110. 7/1/2016-7/1/2023.