Training the Next Generation of Clinician-Scientists (T35)
Follow Your Ambitions
Our summer fellowship program offers rising second-year medical and pharmaceutical students the chance to conduct mentored, NIH-funded research in a faculty lab at UB or Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Test your interest in research or get a head start on your long-term plans.
Accepting Applications
Applications are now being accepted through January 26, 2026.
Program Length
June 8–July 24, 2026
Stipend
~$4,382
Eligibility
Medical and pharmaceutical students who are citizens of the United States and have completed their first year.
An In-Depth Experience
Weekly seminars expose you to the topics and people at the cutting edge of infectious disease, microbiology and immunology research. Laboratory practical sessions, training in research methods and ethics, and opportunities to present your work give you the fundamentals to continue in a successful research career.
Each T35 participant will be matched with a dedicated mentor to guide them through their research projects. Below is a list of faculty members participating in our summer research program.
Participating Faculty Mentors
You will design and carry out independent research project in infectious diseases, pharmacology, microbiology and/or immunology under the guidance of our world-renowned faculty. Your mentor will work with you to develop a project abstract before the fellowship begins and help you see your goals to completion.
The fellowship application will ask you to list three mentors with whom you wish to work, and we will make every effort to match you with a mentor based on your research interests.
Dr Hicar's Projects
- Studies on antibody responses of children with Kawasaki disease (ELISA, proteomic screens)
- Studies on antibody responses of in Alzheimer's disease (ELISA, proteomic screens)
Mark Hicar, MD, PhD, FPIDS, FIDSA
Associate Professor; Chief, Pediatric Infectious Diseases; Program Director, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship; Interim Pediatrics Vice Chair for Research; Interim Director Child and Maternal Health Research Institute
UBMD Pediatrics Division of Infectious Diseases 1001 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14203
Phone: 716-323-0150; Fax: 716-323-0296
Email: markhica@buffalo.edu
Dr Russo's Project
- Acinetobacter baumannii and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae studies with the goal to identify genes important for causing infections and to use this information for diagnostic test and/or drug or vaccine development.
Jacobs School of Medicine of Biomedical Sciences, room 5212 University at Buffalo 955 Main St. Buffalo, NY 14203
Phone: 716-829-2674
Email: trusso@buffalo.edu
Dr Kenney's Projects
- Characterization of a bacteriophage's interactions with bacterial receptors using bacterial culture, plaque assays, and bioinformatics approaches.
- Build a framework for bacteriophage-bacterial interactions in human synovial and cerebrospinal fluids using bacterial and phage culture techniques.
1001 Main Street, 5th Floor Buffalo, NY 14203
Phone: 716-323-0150; Fax: 716-323-0296
Email: pokenney@buffalo.edu
Dr Repasky's Project
- Mechanisms by which stress, particularly thermal stress, promotes cancer progression and therapeutic resistance with the goal of developing novel strategies to improve cancer outcomes.
Dr Reynold's Project
- Pharmacokinetics and Immunodynamics of Immune stimulating chemotherapeutic nanoparticles for TB.
Dr Shah's Project
- Pharmacokinetic Models for Antibody-Drug Conjugates
Dr Tornatore-Morse's Project
- Clinical Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Research of Immunosuppressive Regimens in Renal Transplantation.
Dr Arany's Project
- Wound healing and tissue regeneration with TGF-beta studies and investigation of therapeutic use of low dose biophotonics devices, termed low level light/laser therapy or Photobiomodulation Therapy
Dr Diaz-Moreno's Project
- Evaluation of epithelial progenitor populations in the oral mucosa responsible for tissue homeostasis and response to chemotoxic injury (immunostainings, RNAscope).
Dr Ma's Project
- Pharmacotherapy of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders utilizing a variety of data and laboratory analytical techniques as well as cell culture and small animal models through collaborations.
Dr Morse's Project
- Drug development research in HIV and hepatitis C virus including bioanalysis, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacogenomics.
Dr Ruhl's Project
- Research into the role of saliva and oral bacteria in health, focus on glycan biology.
Dr Stavrou's Projects
- Understanding the function of accessory proteins of HIV and other lentiviruses, particularly how they target cellular host factors.
- Development of in vivo models to examine the interplay between HIV accessory proteins and host cell intrinsic immunity.
Dr Boliar's Project
- Mechanistic understanding of HIV-1 persistence and latency in macrophages under cART. (molecular virology, immunology FACS).
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Room 5258 955 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14203
Phone: 716-829-3364
Email: sboliar@buffalo.edu
Dr Bou Ghanem's Project
- Studies on pneumococcal vaccine responses (ELISA, flow cytometry, bacterial-immune cell interaction assays).
955 Main Street, Office 55254 Buffalo, NY 14203
Phone: 716-829-2422; Fax: 716-829-2158
Email: elsaboug@buffalo.edu
Dr Dey's Project
- Cytokine mediated metabolic reprogramming in cancer and role of CD4+ T cells in pancreatic cancer progression.
Dr Huang's Projects
- Studies on antibody responses of children with Kawasaki disease (ELISA, proteomic screens).
- Characterization of mutant strains of abundant gut anaerobic bacteria (growth assays, anaerobic cultivation, microbiology).
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Room 5227 955 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14203
Phone: 716-829-6061
Email: yyh@buffalo.edu
Dr Kramer's Project
- Studies on immune activation in Sjogren’s disease using primary cell culture, ELISAs, and flow cytometry.
Program Co-Director, Oral Biology; Associate Professor
Department of Oral Biology
Dr Nemeth's Project
- Studies on the immune microenvironment in myeloid cancer.
Dr Olejniczak's Project
- Applying basic T cell biology studies of intracellular signaling, cell fate, metabolism, RNA biology, and epigenetics to gain a better understanding of how immunotherapies work at a cellular and molecular level.
Dr Romano's Project
- Investigation of the role of p63 in various facets of salivary gland development, stem cell renewal, organ homeostasis and repair.
Program Co-Director, Oral Biology; Associate Professor
Department of Oral Biology
Dr Visser's Project
- Studying how oral spirochetes that are associated with periodontal disease manipulate the innate immune response to allow bacterial survival and progressive disease.
Dr Kay's Project
- Mechanisms of interactions of oral microbes with host immune cells and investigating the basic machinery of phagocytic maturation.
545 Biomedical Research Building
Phone: (716) 829-2073; Fax: (716) 829-2387
Email: jasonkay@buffalo.edu
Dr Wohlfert's Project
- Studying how the establishment of infection and its chronicity alter T regulatory cells and their responses (mouse model of Toxoplasma infection).
