Department News

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences celebrated scientific achievements, outstanding service and significant teaching contributions during its 2017 Faculty and Staff Recognition Awards event May 18.

Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, has received the 2017 Stockton Kimball Award for consistent academic accomplishment, significant research discoveries and contributions to the progress of the university and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Thirty-eight doctoral, 28 master’s and 183 baccalaureate candidates were eligible to receive degrees in biomedical science fields during the May commencement ceremony.

Three studies focused on improving our understanding of the human microbiome were awarded funding through the second round of research pilots supported by the Community of Excellence in Genome, Environment and Microbiome (GEM).

Yijun Sun, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, has been awarded a three-year $973,000 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop advanced algorithms to address computational challenges in microbiome research.

Four graduate students from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences were among the 15 finalists of UB’s inaugural 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.

James D. Bangs, PhD, Grant T. Fisher Professor and chair of microbiology and immunology, has received National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to continue his study of human African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness.

At the 2017 Medical Student Research Forum, aspiring physician-scientists showcased 46 original research projects they conducted at the University at Buffalo, its partner health care agencies and institutions nationwide.

Researchers led by Anthony A. Campagnari, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology and medicine, have developed a new model that provides a novel view of secondary bacterial pneumonia.

UB’s Summer Research Fellowship Program, which provides first-year medical students with a personalized experience in research, has been renewed through another five years of funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Five research projects that aim to improve our understanding of the human microbiome have been selected to receive the first round of funding from the Community of Excellence in Genome, Environment and Microbiome (GEM).

Students and postdoctoral scholars in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology have given invited talks at a variety of meetings and have received many honors and awards over the past year.

Anthony A. Campagnari, PhD, senior associate dean for research and graduate education, is exploring the novel use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a noninvasive treatment for otitis media (OM) or middle ear infections.

Ira J. Blader, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology, is using new grant funding to build on prior research aiming to identify how the infection-causing parasite Toxoplasma gondii triggers seizures and other neurological complications in AIDS and cancer patients as well as fetuses.