2017

Recent articles detail the opening of the new $375 million, 628,000-square-foot Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building in downtown Buffalo.

Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences faculty members weighed in on how to stay healthy in the new year in an article on resolutions. Anne B. Curtis, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and Chair of Medicine, said: “If you find you have been too sedentary, figure out when you can fit in 10 minutes of walking to start.” Priyanka Patnaik, MD, medical director at UBMD Family Medicine at Conventus and a clinical assistant professor of family medicine, suggested taking an hour a day “to relax and let go of all the stress of work, maybe spend some time meditating or doing yoga.”

An article detailing a study that shows that exercise can slow the progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia quotes Bruce R. Troen, MD, professor of medicine and division chief of geriatrics and palliative medicine. Troen suggested that while the mechanism is unclear, exercise might help keep blood flowing to areas of the brain restricted by dementia.

In a Q&A interview, Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, describes the years of planning for the new building downtown and discusses the benefits to students, physicians, researchers and patients. “Everyone who works at an academic health center has to wake up every morning and say this is the place where we want people to come to learn. This is the place where new knowledge of some type is going to be created, and this is the place, if any of us need a physician, where I want to go because I'm not just getting standard of care but, if needed, have the opportunity to participate in new directions for treatment,” Cain said.

Robert H. Ablove, MD, clinical associate professor of orthopaedics, is quoted in a story about grants from UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine to two community groups, including Hand in Hand, which works to design and fabricate prosthetic hands using 3-D printers and other tech tools. “When we heard about the Hand in Hand program, it was a no-brainer. This is the sort of initiative we want to be a part of,” Ablove said.

A new study led by Michal K. Stachowiak, PhD, professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, uses cerebral organoids, or mini-brains, to understand the cause of schizophrenia. After growing the mini-brains, the research group saw architectural difference in the cortex: immature cells that would one day turn into neurons were spreading out in too many directions with too much distance between them. “I think for the first time we have a proper experimental tool to try to see if we can either correct or prevent some of these events,” he said. 

Various local and national media outlets reported on the grand opening of the new home of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. More than 500 people attended the ceremony for the spectacular new facility, including Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. “We’re celebrating the grand opening of much more than a new building today. This is the start of a new era for UB, for our medical school and for this entire region,” said Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president of health sciences and dean of the medical school.

The first opiate intervention court in the country has been operating since May 1 in Buffalo City Court. The new court is being funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the treatment programs are under the administration of Richard D. Blondell, MD, professor of family medicine, along with Horizon Health Services and the HOPE Program.

While the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences celebrated the grand opening of its new $375 million downtown medical school building on Dec. 12, exterior finishing work on the building’s Main Street canopy and other details won’t completely wrap up until early in 2018.

UB’s Research Institute on Addictions is leading a statewide program to train medical professionals in high-need regions, including Erie and Niagara counties, in providing medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction. “Once you get trained, it's not an easy transition to getting your first patient. And, once you are treating patients, you have to make sure they are monitored. That can be difficult, especially if you are a single provider,” said Kenneth E. Leonard, PhD, RIA director and research professor of psychiatry.

An article on new 3D printing technology that allows surgeons to print highly realistic, functionally accurate replicas of complex anatomical structures quotes Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of neurosurgery. “We designed a series of models with varying levels of tortuosity from the chest to the brain,” he said. “It’s impossible to do in animals or in patients. 3D printing makes it so easy to do that in a smooth, streamlined fashion.”

Michael G. Dwyer, III, PhD, assistant professor of neurology and biomedical informatics, was interviewed about a group of Americans and Canadians in Cuba who in September suffered symptoms that included hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues and difficulty sleeping, which prompted concerns their symptoms were caused by a neural toxin. Dwyer said the brain is made up of gray matter and white matter. “The gray matter is kind of like the actual computational units, the neuronal cell bodies,” he said. “The white matter is the wiring closet of the brain, composed almost entirely of axons that helps connect different parts of the brain.”

An article about meditation goggles being marketed by meditation guru Deepak Chopra that are supposed to guide users into a heightened state of meditation interviews James D. Reynolds, MD, professor and chair of ophthalmology, who said the goggles should be safe to use, but that he was unconvinced that they would achieve the claimed benefits. “Probably all placebo,” he said.

A front-page article reports on the new downtown home of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, which will be dedicated on Dec. 12 and open to students on Jan. 8. The article quotes Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. “Hundreds of people discussed and gave ideas about what the medical school should look like, and what the research and education venues should be and how they should be configured,” Cain said. 

Research by Jack Tseng, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, suggests that a now-extinct Chinese otter that roamed lakes or swamps 6 million years ago was almost as large as a wolf and had jawbones capable of crushing large shells, as well as birds and mammals, making it a key predator in its ecosystem. “We don’t know for sure, but we think that this otter was more of a top predator than living species of otters are,” Tseng says. “Our findings imply that Siamogale could crush much harder and larger prey than any living otter can.”

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has begun its move downtown, which is being done in several phases. “It’s a thoughtful, coordinated move,” said Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president of health sciences and dean of the medical school. “We designed this move to take several months on purpose. It’s a complex move and we can’t interrupt classes once they’ve started.”

An opinion piece by Brian Clemency, DO, associate professor of emergency medicine, looks at the new ways emergency medical technicians and paramedics are being taught to treat cardiac arrest in order to improve survival rates. “Our providers immediately perform life-saving interventions rather than delay or hinder the delivery of those interventions by moving the patient. Most importantly, this has enabled our providers to center resuscitative efforts around the delivery of high-quality, uninterrupted chest compressions and prompt defibrillation,” he writes.

Richard D. Blondell, MD, professor of family medicine, and vice chair of addiction medicine, was interviewed for a story about the opioid crisis and a new indictment against a local pain management physician. He said overprescribing medications is partly to blame for the opioid epidemic. “The promotion of drugs to physicians by pharmaceutical companies or the representatives that encourage physicians to overprescribe is what got us into this mess,” Blondell said.

Research led by Jack Tseng, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, suggests that a now-extinct Chinese otter that roamed lakes or swamps was almost as large as a wolf and had jawbones capable of crushing large shells, as well as birds and mammals, making it a key predator in its ecosystem. The researchers developed a computer model to test their guess that jaw strength would depend on what foods the species prefers. "You don't need to chew fish, you just sort of bite on it and swallow," Tseng said.

Michal K. Stachowiak, PhD, professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, is asked about mini-brains and the scientific debate over the ethics of implanting human organoid tissue into the brains of mice. He said if organoids grow closer to the size of full human brains, even the size of an infant’s brain, they’d start to require oxygen and nutrients to keep themselves going. But once you’ve gone from a tiny “brain in a dish” to a larger organ with more and more of the stuff inside our skulls, it’s harder not to wonder if some lines should be drawn, he added.

Steven L. Dubovsky, MD, professor and chair of psychiatry, talks about the mass shootings occurring around the country and the growing feelings of fear and loss that are affecting people as a result. He said people can empower themselves by asking what things they can actively do to keep themselves and their communities safe. “That way, you won’t feel like you’re passively waiting,” he said. “You will feel less anxious and more in control.”

An article in Business First reports UB will officially open its new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building on Dec. 12 during a ceremony that is expected to include state and local dignitaries, and includes a slideshow featuring the building. The article notes that the 628,000-square-foot, $375 million facility represents a return downtown after 64 years on the South Campus, and that the finishing touches are being put on the interior and students will begin taking classes there in January.

The University at Buffalo was given the green light to acquire the property on which its new $375 million Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building now sits. Classes in the new medical school start in January.

Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, says that law enforcement has had a “chilling effect”on doctors who are caught between fighting opioid abuse and adding services to help those patients in the wake of new federal charges against a local pain-management physician. ‘We have to make sure that law enforcement understands that good people are trying to do good work,” she said. “We know that there are gaps and we know that we need more multidisciplinary centers across the state.”

Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, professor of neurology, is the principal investigator of clinical trials exploring potential therapeutic applications of cannabinoids in progressive multiple sclerosis. Weinstock-Guttman is executive director of the New York State Multiple Sclerosis Consortium.

Norma J. Nowak, PhD, professor of biochemistry and executive director of UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, is a member of the search committee tasked with hiring a replacement for John Gavigan, who is stepping down as executive director of 43North.

An article interviews a nurse who has worked at Children’s Hospital for 45 years about the medical milestones that have accompanied her career, including the development of Infasurf, created at an Amherst startup company led by Edmund A. Egan, II, MD, professor of pediatrics.

After a gunman fired 20 rounds of ammunition at a Dollar General store in Cheektowaga, Steven L. Dubosky, MD, professor and chair of psychiatry, was interviewed about the issue of mass shootings. “It’s not a gun-control issue, and it’s not a mental health issue either,” he said. “It’s a bad behavior issue.”

An article in Newsweek about a new study that uses lab-grown mini-brains known as cerebral organoids to explain the effects of psychedelics on the human brain quotes Michal K. Stachowiak, PhD, professor of pathology and anatomical sciences in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “It’s an interesting study, but I’m not sure the model was properly developed. I’m skeptical this model could or should be used to reflect a full adult human brain,” Stachowiak said.

A new study provides a groundbreaking look at how advance care planning medical orders inform emergency medical service providers’ experiences involving people with intellectual disabilities. Brian Clemency, DO, clinical associate professor of emergency medicine, is one of the authors.

Michael R. Cummings, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry, co-authored an editorial that argued the community should be able to talk about mental illness in the same way people talk about any medical condition.

Richard D. Blondell, MD, professor of family medicine and vice chair of addiction medicine, commented on President Trump’s declaration that the opioid crisis is a public health emergency. He noted Trump said a lot of the right things in his speech although it was light on specifics. “The proof will be in the pudding,” he said. “It’s like a bunch of kids drowning in a river — we need to go upstream and find out why they’re drowning in the first place. We need to do something so that doctors stop prescribing people into addiction.”

A group of researchers have used a powerful x-ray to create 3D maps of sections of mouse brains in an effort to obtain a clearer picture of the brain at a level that scientists normally learn about by cutting through sliced samples of brain tissue. Ciprian N. Ionita, PhD, research assistant professor of biomedical engineering, was not involved in the study, but said he was impressed with how the researchers were able to clearly distinguish nerve cells from blood vessels. “This kind of resolution, this kind of imaging can give you information about structures down to the cellular level,” he said.

Qidni Labs, winner of the 43North competition in October 2017, reports it is working to raise $2.5 million to continue development of the startup’s nano-filters, which function like a kidney, and notes the company will open an office in Buffalo and collaborate with the Division of Nephrology within the Department of Medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

An article in Third Age reports on a study that provides a groundbreaking look at how advance care planning medical orders inform emergency medical service providers’ experiences involving people with intellectual disabilities. Brian Clemency, DO, clinical associate professor of emergency medicine, is one of the authors.

An article about New York State’s 10 Centers of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease, including the Western New York center based at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, interviews Bruce R. Troen, MD, center co-director and professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, and Kinga Szigeti, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology and center co-director.

Eric Ten Brock, MD, professor of medicine, speaks about the changes to a person’s health that daylight savings time can bring about. “There have been studies that demonstrate increased risk of strokes and acute myocardial infarction that day and the next day,” says Ten Brock, who specializes in sleep medicine. "Over 40 percent of adults in this country are chronically sleep-deprived. And to lose one more hour is sort of a stress test and can exacerbate that problem so that people are often more tired.” The biannual time changes have also been liked to an increased risk of depression and mood changes.

An article on construction of the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building notes that the grand opening is scheduled for December, with students slated to begin using the building in January. The new medical school building houses modular 21st century learning environments that include updated classrooms and laboratories. The design features two L-shaped structures linked by a six-story, light-filled glass atrium.

Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, professor of neurosurgery, and Michael R. Ferrick, MD, clinical associate professor of orthopaedics, were among UB faculty interviewed about young athletes and weight training. “As long as it is done with appropriate technique, supervision, appropriate rest days and appropriate weight amounts and reps,” weight training can be “good for general overall health,” Ferrick said.

Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD, professor of neurology, is interviewed in MD Magazine about the TOPIC multiple sclerosis study and Aubagio’s effect of cortical gray matter atrophy (CGMA) loss. The article includes a video interview with Zivadinov, director of the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center.

An article about an institute that is building a library of 3D pictures of human nerve cells interviews Michal K. Stachowiak, PhD, professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, who said the database could eventually answer a central question by connecting genomic data with the pictures: what difference in a person’s genetic material can give rise to things like tumors and epilepsy? “It’s never been done,” he said. “And if you do it, you gain such vast information.”

Articles about the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act — or MACRA — interview Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy. “The first thing physicians have to understand — and most do not — is that this whole business of shifting to pay for value is not part of the ACA. It’s a completely different bill and was passed by 92 senators, so it’s a very bipartisan effort to try to shift payment away from fee-for-service,” she said.

An article about where Buffalo fits into the future of medicine reports L. Nelson Hopkins, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and former chair of of neurosurgery, and Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, professor of neurosurgery, have co-authored “The Future of Medicine,” a new book that functions as a global overview of how the forces of change will affect the health care industry moving forward. “The health of our population shows the wear and tear of long winters, lives spent working on our feet and a steady diet of hearty, but not heart-healthy comfort food,” they wrote. “We’re aging, and presenting the typical signs that go hand in hand with aging — higher rates of stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.”

The global Physicians for Human Rights organization trains health care providers in physical, gynecological and psychological forensic evaluation for asylum seekers. Kim Griswold, MD, associate professor of family medicine, says Buffalo is a popular location for asylum seekers for several reasons. “One is that we have the largest shelter in the United States for asylum seekers, Vive La Casa. Also we have a lot of local resources, like the Center for Survivors, that are able to identify folks seeking asylum.”

A new book co-edited by Mulchand S. Patel, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of biochemistry, and colleagues explores in detail the many fetal and immediate postnatal nutritional influences on adult health. "Our animal studies have shown that overfeeding, or the increased intake of carbohydrate-derived calories during the immediate postnatal period, can reprogram an individual's metabolism, creating negative health outcomes later in life," he said.

Albert H. Titus, PhD, professor and chair of biomedical engineering; Shambhu Upadhyaya, professor of computer science and engineering; and Wenyao Xu, assistant professor of computer science and engineering; are board members of Peeva, a company that aims to develop a scanner that can read any pet chip on the market.

Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, talks about the construction of the school’s new building downtown and the 25 percent increase in enrollment in the school this year to help address the regional and national physician shortage. “Part of this vision of continuing to increase excellence in health care delivery in Western New York was doing these three things: we are moving the medical school, we are building a new one specially designed to be 21st century and we are building programs that attract students here and keep students here and allow us to recruit the best physician-scientists.”

An article about the extensive coverage of the Las Vegas shooter and concerns that it will lead to copycats who will use the tragedy as a template for their own horrific schemes interviews Steven L. Dubovsky, MD, professor and chair of psychiatry. “I would not see new mass murderers as copycats so much as competitors who are attempting to best the record of the previous murder and get more air time. The motivation for many of these horrible acts is not psychiatric — it is simply a desire to feel famous, powerful and influential,” he said.

A story about the opioid epidemic reports UB is dealing with the problem by increasing education in the field from medical education to social work, with 1,000 students from 11 professional groups gathering in November to talk about a fictional case of a woman who goes from dental problems to addiction and what went wrong, and interviews Lisa Jane Jacobsen, MD, MPH, associate dean of medical curriculum. "Everyone's talking about the opioid epidemic and, sadly, everyone has somebody they know who is suffering from it or has died from it," she said. 

An article about the national debate among surgeons over whether they should wear a skullcap or bouffant reports a study by the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences compared infection rates in nearly 16,000 procedures and found no significant difference. The article quotes Kevin J. Gibbons, MD, associate professor of neurosurgery and senior associate dean for clinical affairs, who said, “The rationale, not the evidence, suggested that banning the cap would reduce infections; the evidence is that it did not.”

An article on Kopitiam Bot, a news, lifestyle and technology website in Singapore, reports on research co-authored by Jack Tseng, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, on a fossilized carnivore jawbone that belonged to a beardog, an early, long-extinct relative of dogs, foxes and weasels that lived up to 40 million years ago. “We’re not saying we’ve solved where they fit on the tree of life, but it’s the most progress that’s been made in quite a while. Our work provides a clearer connection between the rest of the beardog family and their evolutionary roots.”

An article about President Trump’s executive order authorizing changes to how the Affordable Care Act is administered and how it will affect women’s health interviews Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “There’s nothing that happens right away except that these agencies begin to work,” she said. “They will then post proposed rules, and there will be public comment. So this is going to take at least six months, probably, to work its way out. Nothing happens immediately.”

Health News Digest reports that surgeons from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and Kaleida Health have entered the national discussion about what kind of headgear surgeons should wear. A study conducted by these researchers demonstrated no change in infection rates in almost 16,000 surgical cases before and after a ban on surgical caps, which do not cover all of a surgeon’s hair and ears. Kevin J. Gibbons, MD, associate professor and vice chair of neurosurgery and senior associate dean for clinical affairs, was lead author for the study.

A story on WIVB-TV reports a new state grant will help UB train physicians and nurses on how to medically treat people addicted to opioids, and interviews Kenneth E. Leonard, PhD, professor of psychiatry and director of UB’s Research Institute on Addictions, who said doctors and nurses need to be properly trained to distribute an FDA-approved medication that is available on the market. “Buprenorphine is one of the medication-assisted treatments that is used for … prescription opioids and heroin,” he said.

John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of the UBMD Concussion Management Clinic, was interviewed about concussions and what happens when an individual has a brain injury. He said the best way of determining whether a person has a concussion is a checklist of symptoms. “[There] are the physical signs on examination that I look for in everybody who I see with a concussion,” he said. “How their eyes are working and what their balance is like.”

A story about the impact the doctor shortage is having on Western New York looks at efforts by the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to slow the trend, and interviews Gina Sparacino, a fourth-year medical student at UB who is one of the first recipients of a scholarship from the Western New York Medical Scholarship Fund, which gives Western New York natives an incentive to stay in the area after they graduate from the medical school. “I am seeing a lot more of the Buffalo students who want to stay, especially with the need for physicians in Western New York,” she said.

UB has established a website to assist in the transition of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to the new building located in downtown Buffalo. The website includes information about the impact on the community, on research and on patient care, as well as the impact on medical education at UB.

A new state grant will help UB train physicians and nurses on how to medically treat people who are addicted to opioids. “Buprenorphine helps alleviate the craving people who are addicted to opiates feel,” said Kenneth E. Leonard, PhD, professor of psychiatry and director of UB’s Research Institute on Addictions. “It must be part of a full set of psychological and social interventions, ideally with professionals at chemical dependency treatment centers.”

An article about concussion and what happens when an individual has a brain injury interviews John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of UBMD's Concussion Management Clinic, who said the best way of determining whether a person has a concussion is a checklist of symptoms. “[There] are the physical signs on examination that I look for in everybody who I see with a concussion,” he said. “How their eyes are working and what their balance is like.”

Research by Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, shows that a majority of patients with type 1 diabetes did significantly better at controlling blood sugar when they used insulin and a medicine for type 2 diabetes. “It can save a lot of lives,” he said. “It can reduce complications like eye disease, blindness, kidney disease and failure. Type 1 is really a disaster and, overall, not a disease you want to have.”

Research by Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, shows that patients with type 1 diabetes who were treated with a type 2 diabetes drug had a significant decline in their blood sugar levels. “There remains a high unmet medical need in helping treat the millions of patients living with type 1 diabetes while managing the complications associated with the disease,” he said. “It is critical that we continue to advance clinical research with newer and novel therapies.”

Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, participated in a panel discussion that shared insights on aging. The event was titled “Improving the Health Status of the Community: Person-Centered Care for Our Aging Population.” 

A new book co-edited by Mulchand S. Patel, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of biochemistry, and colleagues explores in detail the many fetal and immediate postnatal nutritional influences on adult health. “Our animal studies have shown that overfeeding, or the increased intake of carbohydrate-derived calories during the immediate postnatal period, can reprogram an individual’s metabolism, creating negative health outcomes later in life,” he said.  

Researchers at Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences have identified a new way to predict which Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVR) patients may be at higher risk for hospital readmission. The article appears in “Structural Heart: The Journal of the Heart Team.” Aishwarya Bhardwaj, MD, internal medicine resident, is first author. Tharmathai Ramanan, MD, clinical cardiovascular disease fellow, is first co-author. Vijay S. Iyer, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine, is principal investigator.

David W. Hojnacki, MD, assistant professor of neurology, received the Stephen H. Kelly Award as a “Professional on the Move” at the “Champions on the Move” event sponsored by the Upstate Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Health-care providers are adding more functions to their patient portals to improve the efficiency of their practices as well as patient outcomes. Peter Winkelstein, MD, MBA, executive director of UB’s Institute for Healthcare Informatics, said many physicians aren’t yet comfortable enabling such advanced functions because they feel they’re ceding too much control to the patients.

A story about a program offered to local emergency room physicians to train them how to identify patients who could benefit from a prescription for buprenorphine after they leave the ER interviews Robert F. McCormack, MD, professor and chair of emergency medicine. “We’re seeing a large number of people coming in with opioid-related problems. Most being overdose that they present to the emergency department,” he said.

An article about an outbreak of human Campylobacter infections that have been linked to puppies sold through a national pet store chain quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of infectious diseases. Raw milk is also a potential source of the infection, which is why it’s better to drink pasteurized milk, he said.

An article on the emergence of hypervirulent, multidrug-resistant and highly transmissible strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of infectious diseases. "In this case it looks like the virulence factors went from the hypervirulent strains into an extensively drug-resistant strain," he said. "This is exactly what we were concerned about, and we thought would have a high likelihood of coming to fruition."

Construction on the University at Buffalo’s $375 million downtown medical school building is nearing completion, and faculty and staff are set to move into the building in autumn 2017. Work is almost finished on the floors with research laboratories, the Behling Simulation Center, the Clinical Competency Center and administrative offices.

Sanjay Sethi, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, has led a trial demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in lung function for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The results show the improvement is “achieved by the combination of aclidinium and formoterol compared to single LAMA bronchodilators tiotropium and aclidinium, with comparable safety,” he says.

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences welcomed its largest class of medical students at a ceremony where 180 students received their white coats. David A. Milling, MD, associate dean for student and academic affairs, discussed the reasons why the school was able to boost its enrollment, including the new medical school building downtown. “With new space that can accommodate them, increase class sizes — so a perfect opportunity for us to do this. Workforce issues in our area and outside our area as well,” he said.

Bruce R. Troen, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, and Kenneth L. Seldeen, PhD, research assistant professor of medicine, have concluded a preclinical study that showed that brief periods of intense physical activity can be safely administered at an advanced age, and that this kind of activity has the potential to reverse frailty. “We know that being frail or being at risk for becoming frail puts people at increased risk of dying and comorbidity,” Troen said. “These results show that it’s possible that high-intensity interval training can help enhance quality of life and capacity to be healthy.”

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has received a $2.5 million National Library of Medicine grant to train new research leaders in the field of biomedical informatics. Peter L. Elkin, MD, professor and chair of biomedical informatics and director of the new training program, said the grant “puts the department at the forefront of this rapidly changing field.”

Articles about a chest injury sustained by new Buffalo Bills receiver Jordan Matthews, who is sidelined indefinitely because of a chip fracture in his sternum, interview Matthew J. DiPaola, MD, clinical assistant professor of orthopaedics, who said a chip fracture involves a small sliver or shell breaking off any bone in the body. Chip fractures don’t usually require surgery and are treated through rest and anti-inflammatory medicine, he said, adding that a chip fracture to the sternum could cause a person discomfort when breathing.

The UB logo is now in place near the top of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building overlooking the corner of Allen and Main streets. Weighing 800 pounds and measuring 83 inches by 161¼ inches by 6½ inches deep, the bright-blue lettered logo, made of aluminum, was lifted by crane 140 feet for its installation. The logo was designed to be halo-illuminated, so at nighttime it will be backlit against the building.

The tragic events that took place in Charlottesville have spurred numerous debates on race, religion and rights. Meanwhile, a pair of Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences neurosurgeons offered a unique perspective on race from the lens of an operating microscope. Elad I. Levy, MD, MBA, L. Nelson Hopkins III, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, and Adnan H. Siddiqui, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of neurosurgery, wrote that as brain surgeons, they are reminded daily that color is truly skin deep. As soon as the scalpel scores the skin, all patients look the same.

An article on Healio reports on a study that found that the risk for heart failure (HF) events did not differ among patients who were treated with aspirin or warfarin, and quotes Susan Graham, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. “Up to 40 percent of Americans take aspirin, and in (patients with HF) this number may even be higher,” she said. “It’s a great relief to learn that aspirin is safe for this population. One challenge in cardiology is that we may need to use many drugs, including two or three blood thinners. We always want to be sure we’re helping patients, not creating problems.”

An article on the AMSNY site reports that Jaafar M. Angevin, post-baccalaureate program coordinator in the Office of Student and Academic Affairs, has been recognized with a staff award of excellence for promoting inclusion and cultural diversity at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

An article in Business First about a local startup that is working to develop a universal pet microchip scanner reports the owner’s team of advisors and mentors includes Albert H. Titus, professor and chair of biomedical engineering in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

An article on AAMC News, a publication of the Association of American Medical Colleges, reports on UB HEALS (Homeless health, Education, Awareness and Leadership in Street medicine), a community outreach program being conducted by UB medical students and physicians from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The article interviews David A. Milling, MD, senior associate dean for student and academic affairs, and faculty advisor to the program. The effort gives students “an opportunity to realize that very close to the urban areas they’re used to is a whole different life,” he said.

Ramon E. Rivera, MD, assistant professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, was interviewed about possible contamination of endoscopes used in colonoscopies performed at the Veterans Administration hospital in Buffalo. “The worst thing that could come out of this,” Rivera said, “would be for patients sitting at home saying ‘You know what? I won’t get my colonoscopy.’”

A report on the installation of the UB logo on the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building downtown interviews UB project manager Jennifer Kuhn, who described the installation as “a pinnacle moment in the construction” of the building. “Basically everything’s new in the building. New office furniture and new conference room tables, everything’s new,” she said…. “It’s a lot of people, a lot of building to fill.”

Research by Fraser J. Sim, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology, successfully tested a method for determining how relevant to the human disease findings are from mouse models. “This is an important resource for the field as it allows us to compare human and rodent cells, and provides a point of reference to understand whether or not gene expression patterns are conserved between species,” he said.

A new study by Stephanie Anzman-Frasca, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, has shown that placemats can be used to encourage children to eat healthier food in restaurants. "Making healthy options appealing and easy to choose offers the potential to increase children's acceptance of them in restaurants,” she said.

A new study has identified a gene that plays a central role in either protecting from stress or contributing to depression, depending on its level of activity in a part of the brain associated with motivation, pleasure and reward-seeking. David Dietz, PhD, associate professor and interim chair of pharmacology and toxicology, said little was known previously about the biological basis of depression in the brain. “We’re starting to really get an idea of what does the depressed brain look like,” he said. “When you put the whole puzzle together, you see where the problem is…. For the first time this is one of those bigger pieces you can slide into the jigsaw puzzle.”

A new study has found that heart failure patients who took aspirin daily were not at higher risk of being hospitalized for, or dying from, heart failure. Susan Graham, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, who worked on the study, said heart patients — and older adults in general — are often taking many prescription drugs at any given time. “That speaks to the importance of studying potential drug interactions,” she said. “We have to stay on our toes to make sure that we’re doing the right thing.”

Umesh Sharma, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, has received a five-year, $1 million grant to study a protein that, in excessive amounts, during a heart attack promotes the formation of fibrous tissue in the heart.

An article reports on a new UB study that challenges a surgical practice used for decades during arthroscopic knee surgery, and quotes Leslie J. Bisson, MD, professor and chair of orthopaedics. “Those with less surgery got better faster in comparison with the people we did more surgery on,” he said.

An article reports on research being conducted by Andrew H. Talal, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and two student researchers to find out if telemedicine can improve hepatitis C treatment for patients who take methadone and, if so, how it can work best. “This is a population that not only has been excluded from medical care but also from research,” Talal said.

An article on the opioid epidemic in Western New York interviews Richard D. Blondell, MD, professor of family medicine and vice chair of addiction medicine, who said that when Prescription Monitoring Programs started to take effect, a vast population of addicts began turning to heroin. “When doctors stopped prescribing licit drugs to these patients, they turned to the illicit market where diverted prescription drugs and highly potent illegal drugs were becoming more available at lower costs,” he said.

Umesh Sharma, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, has received a grant of $1 million from the National Institutes of Health to continue work on a study involving heart failure after a heart attack.

An article about the future of health care in Western New York notes local health institutions and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences have been working together to invest in facilities and make the local health care system more physician-friendly.

A new study has that found that one in three in the American adult population used some form of prescription painkiller in 2015. “We’ve all known for some time that there's been a problem with opiates and there’'s been this increase in the number of opiate prescriptions. But the sheer number of people who are receiving prescriptions in 2015, which this study is based on, was staggering and very surprising,” said Kenneth E. Leonard, PhD, professor of psychiatry and director of UB’s Research Institute on Addictions.

Timothy F. Murphy, MD, PHD, senior associate dean of clinical and translational research, authored a blog post on the American Federation of Teachers website about how Washington’s anti-science sentiment will hurt research funding for NIH. He writes: “…what a loss. Not only are we losing research dollars and the life-changing science they can fund, we are losing the best and brightest who could come up with as yet unimaginable solutions to some of our thorniest biomedical challenges.”

CGTV News, an international news outlets with an audience of 1.2 billion people around the world, interviews Andrew H. Talal, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, about World Hepatitis Day and research about the disease. “I think the progress in treatment has really been phenomenal,” he said. “The new therapies for hepatitis C have really been revolutionary, resulting in one pill once a day for the vast majority of patients, much shorter treatment duration, much easier to take and minimal side effects.”

Roughly 24,000 terra cotta panels have been installed so far on the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building downtown, with nearly 4,000 more to go.

A team of UB medical doctors led by Leslie J. Bisson, MD, June A. and Eugene R. Mindell, MD, Professor and chair of orthopaedics, have published a study that challenges a surgical practice used for decades during arthroscopic knee surgery. The study showed that clipping or removing loose cartilage after knee surgery for meniscal tears does not benefit the patient. “Those with less surgery got better faster in comparison with the people we did more surgery on,” he said.

A story on a study that found that 110 of 111 deceased former NFL players had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, interviews John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of the UBMD Concussion Management Clinic. “Their findings can suggest there’s a problem but do not prove it, and suggest that it’s probably an issue for a certain group of people who play contact sports but we don’t know who they are,” he said.

Gil I. Wolfe, MD, professor and Irvin and Rosemary Smith Chair of neurology, talks about myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease that often gives people difficulty operating muscles they should be able to control. He said said many people diagnosed with the disease have never heard of it. “In general, people with MG do very well,” he said. “They can hold jobs, they can exercise, they can be active in their family lives.”

An opinion piece by Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, calls on the Senate to set aside partisanship and find real solutions to improving health care for everyone. “What kind of lawmaker chortles with glee as people in need of individual health insurance can’t find it or afford it? Put down your swords and provide a three- to five-year period of insurance predictability while you (and we) sort things out,” she writes. “Then, accept what everyone knows — all have to be in the insurance pool for it to be affordable.”

Buffalo is home to the nation’s first opioid crisis intervention court, which can get users into treatment within hours of their arrest instead of days. The program is funded by a three-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Justice Department, which pays for a coordinator and case managers from UB Family Medicine, who enforce curfews, do wellness checks and transport patients.

Bruce R. Troen, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, led a study that used geriatric mice that ran on treadmills to learn whether abbreviated, intense workouts may help people of any age become healthier. “The animals had tolerated the high-intensity interval training well,” despite their advanced ages, he said, noting that interval training has a signature advantage. “You get done so quickly.”

Research by Abhishek Sawant, a fellow in the Department of Medicine, has showed the benefits of performing percutaneous coronary intervention to clear blocked blood vessels in the hearts in people age 90 and older. “We did show that patients who had lower risk and underwent this procedure actually did very well,” he said.

An article about a local 17-year-old with congenital muscular dystrophy and his everyday routine of countering the obstacles posed by the disease interviews Nicholas J. Silvestri, MD, clinical associate professor of neurology and a specialist in neuromuscular disorders. “The absence of a particular protein (merosin) forming the muscle membrane leads to progressive destruction of muscle cells over time which are not able to fully repair themselves,” he said.

Robert F. McCormack, MD, professor and chair of emergency medicine, testified before a State Senate Task Force in Buffalo about the heroin and opioid epidemic. “The opioid crisis is a behavioral, medical and societal problem that still needs a lot of resources to fix,” he said.

A UB study used geriatric mice that ran on treadmills to learn whether abbreviated, intense workouts may help people of any age become healthier. Bruce R. Troen, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, conducted the study. “The animals had tolerated the high-intensity interval training well,” despite their advanced ages, he said, noting that interval training has a signature advantage. “You get done so quickly.”

A global cardiology conference held in Vancouver featured two doctors from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences: Anne B. Curtis, MD, Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and chair and SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine, discussed improved care for atrial fibrillation and guidelines involving the condition, and Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the medical school, chaired a session on cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death, and spoke on new electrocardiographic predictors of sudden cardiac death.

Newly graduated doctors began their medical residencies on July 1. “When there is an issue that arises urgently in the hospital, because they are fast and young and always there, they are often first on the scene,” said Roseanne C. Berger, MD, senior associate dean for graduate medical education, “and they really expand the physician workforce and so they are major contributors.”

Research by Mark R. O’Brian, PhD,  professor and chair of biochemistry, has led to a four-year, $1.28 million grant to study how bacteria mutate to accept iron, and how the organism expels excess iron. "We usually think of evolution taking place over a long period of time, but we're seeing evolution — at least as the ability to use an iron source that it couldn't before — occurring as a single mutation in the cell that we never would have predicted," he said.

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences welcomed 190 new physicians at a long white coat ceremony held in the Center for Tomorrow to welcome first-year residents who will begin the next phase of their medical training.

Work has begun on a pedestrian and bike path connector that will run underneath the new building for the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The path will run from Allen and Main streets leading into the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus gateway.

An article about Hepatitis C and the new group of drugs that offer a 90 percent cure rate interviews Andrew H. Talal, MD, professor of medicine, who leads liver disease research at UB’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. “We’re not only seeing the fact that the older generation is dying of cirrhosis and increased liver cancer in larger numbers, but just when we thought we were going to get rid of this disease because we have these new therapies, now we’ve got all these young people coming in with Hepatitis C,” he said.

In an article about the risks of scaling back Medicaid, medical policy expert Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, said: “We need to address the cost of medical care in this country and bring it more in line with the results in other countries,” and added that “you don't address that by going after the neediest.”

Research by Jack Tseng, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, suggests that otters may have migrated across America about 6 million years ago along the northern edge of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, which runs across Mexico. “This is an entirely new idea that no one else has proposed,” he said. “We think it’s very likely other animals utilized this route.”

UB has received $4.5 million in grants that will help it recruit top scholars and researchers in three specialty fields: robotics, systems pharmacology and X-ray laser technology. UB received three grants from SUNY's Empire Innovation Program, which helps institutions recruit senior faculty members with proven track records. A research consortium funded by the National Science Foundation that's focused on X-ray laser science is one of the beneficiaries.

A report on UB’s Bright Buffalo Niagara Entrepreneur Expo held in Hotel Henry interviews Norma J. Nowak, PhD, executive director of UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, who said she understands the difficulties of getting a business started and the vital search for capital. "Now, there's an entire support group, both at the university and in our greater community to actually help folks critically analyze the idea that they have, help them develop market plans, help them find investors," she said.

An article about the impact smoking marijuana has on fertility reports a study by the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences found that men who smoked marijuana had significantly lower semen volume.

Zhen Yan, PhD, and Jian Feng, PhD, both professors of physiology and biophysics, have received a five-year, $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct preclinical research on the genetic and epigenetic factors that cause Alzheimer’s disease. “We hypothesize that Alzheimer’s is produced by a combination of genetic risk factors and environmental factors, such as aging,” said Yan, “that induce the dysregulation of specific epigenetic processes that, in turn, lead to impaired cognition.”

Larry Beahan, MD, a retired psychiatrist who lives in Amherst, reminisces about attending UB’s downtown medical school in the 1950s. The school back then was virtually housed on the same spot as the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building set to open in fall 2017.

An article concerning a new health care law under development in Congress quotes Nancy H. Nielson, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy. Nielson said the bill, compared to its counterpart in the House, “gives more generous tax credits to those who need them” but it’s “much, much worse in terms of what it does to Medicaid.”

A lunchtime tour that Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus President and CEO Matt Enstice led noted that the two largest projects on the medical campus are UB’s new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building and John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital.

Leonard H. Epstein, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pediatrics, has been awarded the Hoebel Prize for Creativity by the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, an award that honors members for an exceptional level of creativity and excellence in research on ingestive behavior.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that children ages 6 years and older should be screened for obesity by health care providers. The task force suggested clinicians refer children who are screened as overweight or obese to a comprehensive, intensive behavioral intervention for weight control following screening of BMI measurement. Teresa Quattrin, MD, UB Distinguished Professor and chair of pediatrics, suggested that the intervention-based recommendation is largely unattainable due to lack of insurance coverage for such care.

An article about a report from the Los Angeles coroner’s office that found that Carrie Fisher had multiple drugs in her system when she died after suffering a heart attack in December interviews Kenneth E. Leonard, PhD, director of UB’s Research Institute on Addictions and professor of psychiatry, who said drugs and alcohol have the capacity to change the structure of the brain so that they become more appealing and more important to the user. “And these changes are long-lasting,” he said.

An article about managing symptoms of multiple sclerosis while pregnant interviews Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, professor of neurology, who said when trying to conceive, it’s generally recommended that women stop taking medications that stave off MS relapses. “But going off medication increases the risk for relapse. So you have to determine which therapy is safest for the mother and baby,” she said.

Norma J. Nowak, PhD, professor of biochemistry and executive director of UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, was recognized by the Buffalo Niagara Partnership this spring with the 2017 Athena Award for her acclaimed research and as a leader in the human genomics field.

Cuts to the Clinical and Translational Science Institute are being opposed by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer. The National Institutes of Health cut a grant to the institute by $400,000 in the current federal fiscal year.

Construction on the new $375 million Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is expected to wrap up by Labor Day, which will put state-of-the-art labs, research, teaching and simulation space under one roof. "It makes the medical school whole again," said Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Norma P. Nowak, PhD, was featured in an article on Buffalo being a good fit for companies developing diagnostic testing. Nowak, professor of biochemistry and executive director of UB's New York State Center of Excellence on Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, co-founded Empire Genomics in 2006. Empire Genomics used technology developed by Nowak at UB to develop diagnostic tests for early detection of cancer.

Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and John K. Crane, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, provided their knowledge on the subject after a recent outbreak of foodborne botulism in California.

The new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will have distinct surgical and robotic surgery training areas. "This is a huge expansion of our simulation space," said Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the medical school.

Thomas P. Doak, MD, clinical associate professor of orthopaedics, talks about what he loves about his field of medicine. "You just have to put things back together. That kind of appeals to me," says Doak.

The incoming class at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will increase by 25 percent to 180 students. Over four years, the medical school will grow to 720 medical students. Nearly 2,000 faculty, staff and students will be based at the downtown campus by January.

New guidelines that suggest that most young athletes should be encouraged to start being physically active within a day or two of sustaining a concussion were co-authored by John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of UB’s Concussion Management Clinic. “The brain benefits from movement and exercise, including after a concussion,” he said.

UB’s Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center is expanding its clinics in Buffalo and Williamsville, and the center, part of UBMD Neurology and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, began seeing patients twice weekly in April, up from once a week. “We treat all stages of dementia, but more and more research is being conducted on mild cognitive impairment and early signs of Alzheimer’s disease with the goal of slowing or even stopping progression of this neurodegenerative disease,” said Kinga Szigeti, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology and director of the center.

John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of the UB Concussion Management Clinic, has co-authored new guidelines for treating young athletes who have sustained a concussion that recommend light activity to help them heal faster. “The brain benefits from movement and exercise, including after a concussion,” he said.

Timothy Murphy, MD, spoke on Congress' increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health. “It’s good, the $2 billion increase, and definitely better than it was, but it doesn’t change the overall climate, which is still very competitive,” said Murphy, senior associate dean for clinical and translational research in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. “There’s a lot of us who think there should be more going into the NIH budget.”

The new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building in downtown Buffalo will have a digital wayfinding system. It will enable users to search for individuals, events or departments, then display an outline of exactly where to walk through the building to find the way.

Biomedical engineering professor Stelios Andreadis, PhD, has found that adult skin cells can be converted into neural crest cells without any genetic modification. "In medical applications this has tremendous potential because you can always get a skin biopsy," said Andreadis.

In addition to the other benefits of working in the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building downtown you can add one more — spectacular views. The eight-story building will offer amazing views that stretch to the downtown skyline and beyond to Lake Erie.

Match Day, when medical students find out where they will do their clinical training, was an anxious one for international medical students headed to Buffalo due to the president's travel ban. Roseanne C. Berger, MD, senior associate dean for graduate medical education, and Christopher P. Schaeffer, MD, assistant professor of medicine, were both featured in the piece.

Nancy Nielsen, MD, PhD, was among many health care experts in Western New York who are opposed to the bill that House Republicans passed earlier this month that could cost New York State about $7 billion a year, while leaving thousands of state residents uninsured. "It's a bad bill for many reasons," said Nielsen, clinical professor of internal medicine and a former president of the American Medical Association, which also opposes the bill.

Jian Feng, PhD, professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, is paving the way for faster screenings for new treatments for Parkinson's disease. “With this new finding, we can now generate in a dish the neuronal misfiring that is similar to what occurs in the brain of a Parkinson’s patient,” says Feng.

Research by Jian Feng, PhD, professor of physiology and biophysics, has resulted in faster ways to screen for new treatments for Parkinson's disease. “With this new finding, we can now generate in a dish the neuronal misfiring that is similar to what occurs in the brain of a Parkinson's patient,” said Feng. “A variety of studies and drug discovery efforts can be implemented on these human neurons to speed up the discovery of a cure for Parkinson's disease.”

Getting a handle on the opioid epidemic can be accomplished, but it will take time and it won't be easy, according to Richard Blondell, MD, a professor in the Department of Family Medicine. Blondell spoke on the topic at Genesee Community College in Batavia as part of an opioids and addiction seminar, hosted by the Genesee Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.

A new smartphone device can be used to monitor patients with heart conditions. "It's convenient and not obtrusive to patients, and they can keep it for months," said Anne B. Curtis, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine and SUNY Distinguished Professor.

UB Heals, which is dedicated to reconnecting the homeless population with the health-care system, has earned a pair of grants for its efforts. The program won $5,000 in the region’s second Pitch 10 Competition, where nonprofit organizations had a chance to pitch their project or idea. Last month the program won a $9,000 grant from the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Both grants will go toward purchase of a van to provide a private space for clinical consultations and to store medical equipment.

Construction on the new $375 million Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is nearing completion. It will feature 628,000 square feet of space spread across eight floors. The interior will contain a seven-story atrium naturally illuminated by skylights and two glass walls. 

Jian Feng, PhD, professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, has found a faster way to screen for new treatments for Parkinson's disease. "With this new finding, we can now generate in a dish the neuronal misfiring that is similar to what occurs in the brain of a Parkinson's patient. A variety of studies and drug discovery efforts can be implemented on these human neurons to speed up the discovery of a cure for Parkinson's disease," said Feng.

A story on work stress and a new survey that suggests that a growing number of Americans are not making use of their vacation time interviews Steven L. Dubovsky, MD, professor and chair of psychiatry, who said it is vital to create a work/life balance and to make the most of time off and vacation time. “If you've taken that down time, you'll be more effective at the job you do. Pretending that 'if I just keep going I can do anything' it's a deception. There's nobody that is that powerful or that effective... you're just kidding yourself,” he said.

The new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building will have a cutting-edge gross anatomy lab with 50 tables in all for gross anatomy and continuing medical education purposes. As students dissect, they will have images directly in front of them, through CT scans and MRI scans. “This will be a pretty innovative gross anatomy lab,” said Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the medical school.

Stephanie Anzman-Frasca, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, is among the researchers on a study that showed that room sharing between babies and mothers beyond the first four months is associated with less sleep for babies and unsafe sleeping practices.

The new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building will have a mostly electronic library with quiet study space and computers, with the bulk of the medical school book collection remaining in the Health Sciences Library on the South Campus.

David Poulsen, PhD, who came to Buffalo two years ago from Montana, is excited about the opportunities on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. "The facilities here are unprecedented. There are more resources in a three-block radius than in the entire state of Montana," says Poulson, professor of neurosurgery and chief science officer at NeuroTrauma Sciences, LLC.

Steven D. Schwaitzberg, MD, professor and chair of surgery, talks about a new virtual reality surgical simulator that combines sensory touch and feel with a 3D-environment in order to train surgeons in a virtual operating theater that looks and feels like an operating room. “The better trained you are, the less likely it is you are going to create an error,” he said.

Erie County’s Opioid Task Force is considering a pilot program that would make emergency rooms a first step toward medicine-based recovery of opioid-related problems. Michael A. Manka Jr., MD, assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine, and Gale R. Burstein MD, clinical professor of pediatrics, provide insight on the program.

A study of patients with irritable bowel syndrome showed that many factors that contribute to patient satisfaction are beyond the doctor’s control. "Patient satisfaction is a significant metric that impacts reimbursement as health care emphasizes the value of care not the volume of care," said Jeffrey M. Lackner, PsyD, professor of medicine.

New medication-assisted treatment programs are opening up across Central New York to keep up with the opioid epidemic. “There’s a basic need for education support that draws people together and how that occurs might vary from one city to or another,” said Richard D. Blondell, MD, professor of family medicine and vice chair for addiction medicine.

An article about FDA approval of three cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers for the treatment of patients with heart failure quotes Anne B. Curtis, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and chair of medicine. “These new pacemakers allow clinicians to provide more personalized therapy treatment options,” she said.

Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, says that in preparation for opening the new medical school building on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, the university has secured spots in a new downtown parking garage and in an existing ramp at Michigan and Goodrich streets.

Bruce Naughton, MD, of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care in the Department of Medicine, knew he wanted to focus on primary care and underserved populations once he learned about the needs in the field of medicine.

As health care professionals grapple with the challenges of handling an increasing number of opioid addictions and overdoses, they are looking at the emergency department as a place to start addiction treatment. Physicians including Joshua J. Lynch, DO, clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine, are involved in an initiative in Erie County to establish medication-assisted addiction treatment in emergency rooms.

Harvey A. Berman, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology, discusses Myers v. Schneiderman, a renewed attempt to legalize physician-assisted suicide in New York. He emphasizes that since euthanasia’s legalization in the Netherlands and Belgium, it has “devolved from assisted death only for the terminally ill to include those who are chronically ill, from those with physical illness to those with psychological illness, from adults to children and ultimately to those who are simply ‘tired of living.’”

Exposure to chemicals that are found in insecticides can affect sleeping patterns and lead to a higher risk of diabetes, according to a study by senior author Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Western New York surgeons often participate in international speaking engagements and conference training, as well as surgeries broadcast live online. L. Nelson Hopkins, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of neurosurgery, and Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of neurosurgery, have traveled the world, as well as demonstrated their technique for years through live webcasts for professional surgical associations.

Richard D. Blondell, MD, professor of family medicine and vice chair of addiction medicine was asked about the story of an Ohio police officer who overdosed and needed to be treated with Narcan after touching some fentanyl with his bare hand. Blondell said it’s not possible to overdose on fentanyl simply by touching it, although it’s theoretically possible that someone could overdose by touching carfentanyl, a much more potent version of the drug.  

An article about the explosion of mobile apps designed for the digital health market reports patients of UBMD Internal Medicine can monitor their heart rate using a new smartphone app and last fall UB researchers sought the public’s participation in the Flu Survey app, a five-minute smartphone survey that asked users questions about symptoms, protective actions and frequently visited places.

Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, was one of four prominent health care leaders in Western New York who sat on a panel hosted by the UB School of Management and titled “After the Affordable Care Act: A Nonpartisan Conversation on the Future of Health Care.”

An editorial by Andrew H. Talal, MD, professor of medicine, looks at the difficulties of screening, diagnosing and treating individuals infected with the hepatitis C virus who also have substance use disorders. “People with substance use disorders can account for as much as 80 percent of infected individuals in developed countries, a direct result of the opioid epidemic in the U.S.,” he said.

Richard D. Blondell, MD, professor of family medicine and vice chair of addiction medicine has strong opinions about the opioid epidemic. “The bulk of addiction is now created by the health care system,” he said. “This is an artificial epidemic. It’s the unintended consequences of aggressive pain management.”

UB has received a $2.3 million grant renewal from the National Institutes of Health to provide funding to train 20 new biomedical and behavioral scientists from underrepresented groups between now and 2021. “The theme is to be a catalyst. We are creating a self-propagating pipeline. We are developing leaders,” said Rajendram Rajnarayanan, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology.

A new study shows that people with type 1 diabetes experienced improvements in HbA1c levels after treatment with liraglutide, according to Raju Panta, MD, a medical resident in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism in the Department of Medicine.

A new meta-analysis led by a research group at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences suggests that liraglutide produces modest reductions of HbA1c levels with significant weight loss as well as small insulin dose reductions in type 1 diabetes.

A study by Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and chief of endocrinology in the Department of Medicine, shows that adults with obesity assigned to treatment with phentermine for six months experienced weight loss and decreases in diastolic and systolic blood pressure, but in those with diabetes, blood pressure did not change.

Mark D. Hicar, MD, PhD, research assistant professor of pediatrics, has been awarded a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to study the fraction of the world’s population that can be infected with the virus that causes AIDS but not develop the disease.

David M. Holmes, MD, clinical associate professor of family medicine, along with medical students and residents, traveled to Panama to provide medical care to people living in remote villages. “The village is so remote, that we had to unload the vans, and then carry the medical equipment into the village,” he said.

Andrew B. Symons, MD, clinical associate professor of family medicine, was one of the speakers at an event announcing that $16 million in state funding has been earmarked for Western New York to fight the heroin and opioid crisis.

Middle and high school students learned about career options in medicine and research during an open house May 6 on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus co-hosted by UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences. The event featured a tour and discussion about construction of the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building and other facilities.

A Lakewood teen who underwent bariatric surgery in the fall and has lost nearly 90 pounds, improving worrisome health issues. A story on her quotes Carroll M. Harmon, MD, PhD, John E. Fisher Chair in Pediatric Surgery, chief of pediatric surgery, director of the pediatric surgery fellowship and co-principal investigator in a continuing national multi-center study of weight-loss surgery in teens.

An article looks at minute details of the construction of the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building, and reports the $375 million facility contains, among other things, 7,400 tons of structural steel for framing and 150,000 bolts holding the connections together.

Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, was a panel member at a UB School of Management forum titled “After the Affordable Care Act: A Nonpartisan Conversation on the Future of Health Care” at the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute.

Research has shown that poor eating habits can start at birth, according to Xiaozhong Wen, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics. “Dietary patterns are harder to change later if you ignore the first year, a critical period for the development of taste preferences and the establishment of eating habits,” he said.

Stephanie Anzman-Frasca, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, has conducted research that surveyed parents and children dining at participating restaurants, as well as executives of restaurant chains, to learn more about healthy children’s meals. “Our research can inform the development and implementation of efforts to make healthier choices easier for families in quick- or full-service restaurant settings, an important goal given the regularity with which children consume meals from restaurants,” she said.

A Science article about two male African lions that killed 35 people in 1898 and the longstanding debate over whether tooth decay caused the lions to begin eating human flesh, interviews Jack Tseng, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences and a vertebrate paleontologist.

A story on construction of the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building reports a related project will create a tunnel that will eventually run through the building, connecting Allentown and the Fruit Belt.

An article reports the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building downtown is 84 percent complete, and quotes Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the medical school. “Each milestone brings us closer to achieving our vision for the project,” he said.

An article in the journal Sleep Review reports on UB research that showed that synthetic chemicals commonly found in insecticides and garden products bind to the receptors that govern people’s biological clocks, adversely affecting melatonin receptor signaling and creating a higher risk for metabolic diseases such as diabetes, and quotes Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology.

An article about the new UBMD Pediatrics clinics that opened in early April in the Conventus building in downtown Buffalo reports it is one of three big moves this year to transfer dozens of outpatient clinics and other services from the old Children’s Hospital complex, and quotes Teresa Quattrin, MD, UB Distinguished Professor and chair of pediatrics, who also serves as president and CEO of UBMD Pediatrics.

The construction of the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building marked a major milestone recently when workers began dismantling a 150-foot-tall buck hoist with two elevator cars that for more than a year were used to deliver supplies needed for work inside the eight-story building.

A walking tour of a Buffalo East Side community by students from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences was designed to provide a better understanding of real life issues the students will encounter when they begin working directly with patients in their third year during clinical rotations.  

A four-year trial has shown that teaching preschoolers to regulate their own behavior around food, combined with obesity prevention messages, did not reduce obesity or most obesity-related behaviors. Leonard H. Epstein, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and division chief of behavioral medicine in the Department of Pediatrics, and Stephanie Anzman-Frasca, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, called the study “valuable,” and said that while it didn’t show improving self-regulation impacted on kids’ weight, it’s premature to call the case closed.

The incubators that have developed as part of Buffalo’s startup economy and the funding that has gone into supporting them as part of the Buffalo Billion programs include $50 million to support UB’s supercomputing and genomics work, including grants for specific companies. UB has at least four separate buildings that host startups, including the UB Technology Incubator in Amherst and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences and the Gateway building downtown.

Robert S. Miletich, MD, PhD,  interim chair and professor of nuclear medicine, discusses his interest in using advanced nuclear medicine techniques, a new field that he calls nuclear neurology, to diagnose brain disease, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Reports on the political calculus President Donald Trump has to make right now, as he tells lawmakers they need to vote for his health care bill or else risk losing re-election, but at the same time the bill will rip insurance away from millions. Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, says Republican leaders are in a tough spot as they weigh backlash from voters both now, and in the next election.

A new UB study has shown that obese children with type 2 diabetes are more likely to have poor oral health compared with normal-weight and obese children without the disease. “It turns out that while obese adolescents with Type 2 diabetes typically do have access to dental health, often through federally funded insurance, they do not routinely go to the dentist,” said Lucy D. Mastrandrea, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics.

An article about the Buffalo Billion II, which is aimed at building on the foundation laid out by the first Buffalo Billion while also spreading the economic development plan’s focus into smaller initiatives intended to build on the projects in the first phase and branch out into new neighborhoods and communities that were not part of the first phase, reports it includes $20 million to allow UB to increase the size of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to 180 students from the current 144 students, and also would allow the school to add 100 new physicians and scientists to the faculty.

Research by Michal K. Stachowiak, PhD, professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, shows that a common genomic pathway lies at the root of schizophrenia and could be a step toward the design of treatments that could be administered to pregnant mothers at high risk of bearing a child with schizophrenia, potentially preventing the disease before it begins.

Articles about a study that showed that multiple sclerosis is more likely to progress to advanced disease among patients who suffer from fatigue and limited use of their legs quote Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, MD, professor of neurology.

A report on the work of the Western New York Center for Survivors of Refugee Trauma and Torture, the only program of its kind outside of New York City, quotes Kim Griswold, MD, MPH, the center’s medical director and an associate professor of family medicine and psychiatry.

A story about the national physician shortage quotes David A. Milling, MD, senior associate dean for student and academic affairs. Milling talked about how the medical school is helping to address the shortage regionally through the expansion of this year’s class by 40 students, made possible by the construction of the new building downtown.

An editorial lauds the UBMD Physicians’ Group’s move into the Conventus building on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and notes that Conventus has direct connections to the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building and John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, both of which are in the final stages of construction.

Anne B. Curtis, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and chair of medicine, was a guest on the Karen Hunter Show discussing the major risk factors for heart disease. She discussed the important of a healthy diet and exercising, such as walking, but added that nothing may be more important than not smoking.

Smithsonian reports on how saber-toothed cats used their large fangs and quotes Jack Tseng, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, who said: “The back and base of sabercat skulls tend to show very expanded and bulky bony areas for the attachment of large neck muscles.”

The number of companies operating on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus has grown to more than 150. This impressive growth, in part, is attributed to UB’s entrepreneurial efforts. The number of people working on the medical campus will expand this fall when the new Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences building opens this fall.

SUNY Distinguished Professor Anne B. Curtis, MD, Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and chair of medicine, was a participant on the American College of Cardiology’s ACC Cardiology Hour, where she discussed late-breaking clinical trials regarding the new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors.

An article on advancements and challenges to treating strokes in Western New York includes comments from Elad I. Levy, MD, professor and chairman of neurosurgery, and Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, vice-chairman and professor of neurosurgery, who discussed a new stent retriever that physicians at UB and Kaleida Health played a key role in developing.

An article on the announcement of Ottawa Hospital opening one of Canada’s first medical 3-D printing programs, mentions that the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences uses 3-D printing to train doctors and to give doctors a model to practice on before complex surgeries.

Norma J. Nowak, PhD, professor of biochemistry and executive director of the UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, is among the 10 finalists for the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s ATHENA Award.

StemCell Therapy reported on UB research, led by biomedical engineering professor Stelios T. Andreadis, PhD, which found adult skin cells can be converted into stem cells without genetic modification.

Business First interviews Alan J. Lesse, MD, vice chair for education and senior associate dean for medical curriculum in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, about how medical education has changed, the evolution of what students learn and how they learn, and how the medical school’s curriculum will change when it moves into its new home downtown. “We want to look at the finished product, what do we want our students to be, and then reverse-engineer that,” says Lesse, associate professor or medicine.

An opinion piece by Steven D. Schwaitzberg, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Surgery, calls on the Western New York community to support a new emergency department at ECMC. “The plan for ECMC’s future trauma center/emergency department is exceptional and will put in place the most advanced, modern facility of its kind in Western New York and perhaps the state itself,” he writes. “I can say without reservation that the design of the future trauma center/emergency department at ECMC is among the best in the country. It will be a superb facility that will save lives. It’s that simple.”

“Gut Flora,” a multicolored sculpture of enameled stainless steel that evokes the double helix of DNA, will adorn the upgraded Allen-Medical Campus Metro Station located at the base of the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building.

John J. Leddy, MD, medical director of the UB Concussion Management Clinic, was interviewed about a new study that shows that female athletes are more likely than men to be sidelined by concussions. “They don’t have as strong of neck muscles as male athletes have, so the head gets whiplashed easier in a female. If that’s true, then there’s more force imparted to your brain and that maybe would produce more significant injury and longer recovery,” says Leddy, clinical assistant professor of orthopaedics.

Robert S. Miletich, MD, PhD, interim chair and professor of nuclear medicine, believes the field will one day be as important to neuroscience as it is to cardiology.

“Gut Flora,” a multicolored sculpture of enameled stainless steel that evokes the double helix of DNA, will be installed in the newly upgraded Allen-Medical Campus Metro Station located at the base of the new building housing the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The Affordable Care Act replacement proposed by House Republicans would have major impact on New York state residents if it became law. Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, says “Right now this is just a preliminary conversation. The real fight will be in the Senate.”

A portion of UB’s Museum of Neuroanatomy will move to the new building housing the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences when it opens later this year, where it will be housed on the first floor.

A front-page article about Erie County Health Commissioner Gale R. Burstein, MD, MPH, clinical professor of pediatrics,  looks at her work in public health, including the skyrocketing local opioid and heroin drug crisis, and quotes Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, who credited Burstein for asking the Erie County Medical Society to brainstorm emergency solutions when the office of a local pain physician closed. “She was perfectly willing to reach out to an organization she didn’t know much about,” Nielsen said.

A story about the impact state budget negotiation could have on the local medical community reports funding from the second phase of the Buffalo Billion initiative could have a serious impact on the way space is used by the city’s medical community, and notes that $20 million is earmarked to help the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences expand class sizes.

An article about the role UB plays in the growth of biomedical companies emerging in downtown Buffalo looks at some of the UB-affiliated companies, including Athenex and For-Robin, and notes that Steven D. Schwaitzberg, MD, chair of the Department of Surgery, recently said Buffalo looks like Boston in the late 1980s just before it became an international biomedical powerhouse.

Recent research by Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology; Rajendram Rajnarayanan, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology; and former graduate student Marina Popovska-Gorevski, on how insecticides increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by disrupting circadian rhythms is featured  as a “Paper of the Month” on the website of the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, a research institute of the National Institutes of Health.

An article reports the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has hired 12 new faculty members as part of a surge in hiring planned as UB moves its medical school downtown. The article notes the medical school will open the $375 million state-of-the-art building later this year, with the first group of students starting to take classes there next January, and has increased the size of its student body by 25 percent, putting enrollment at 180 students.

UB researchers have found that a non-invasive treatment of dextrose gel administered into a baby’s cheek, along with regular feedings, can raise the blood sugar of babies with hypoglycemia, allowing them to stay with their mothers, which promotes breastfeeding, and eliminating the need for intravenous fluids.

A new UB study shows that exposure to synthetic chemicals commonly found in insecticides and garden products may adversely affect melatonin receptor signaling, creating a higher risk for metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

An article on providing clinical experiences early in medical education quotes Andrew B. Symons, MD, clinical associate professor and vice chair for medical student education in the Department of Family Medicine, who describes UB’s Clinical Practice of Medicine course where students are matched with a local clinician within a month of coming to medical school.

Fulfilling an earlier commitment, Catholic Health has awarded the first of three full scholarships for medical students in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Richard D. Blondell, MD, professor of family medicine and vice chair of addiction medicine, spoke at a Hilbert College symposium concerning the opioid epidemic.

Rajendram Rajnarayanan, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology, was featured in an AAAS Science Update podcast about research he and UB colleagues did showing how they are using computational methods to study the long-term health effects of chemical pesticides on families.

A story on UB HEALS, a street medicine outreach program conducted by medical students that makes rounds on Tuesdays and Thursdays to offer preventive care to Buffalo’s homeless, interviews medical student Moudi Hubeishy and others involved in the program, including Kim Griswold, MD, MPH, associate professor of family medicine.

UB researchers have found that a non-invasive treatment of dextrose gel administered into a baby’s cheek, along with regular feedings, can raise the blood sugar of babies with hypoglycemia, eliminating the need for intravenous fluids, which interfere with mother-baby bonding.

Andrew H. Talal, MD, MPH, professor of medicine, talks about the sharp rise in hepatitis C in young adults that officials are blaming on the opioid epidemic.

An article reports a UB-led consortium that won a prestigious $15 million Clinical and Translational Science Award has adopted a new name and visual identity to better represent its work, and quotes Timothy F. Murphy, MD, senior associate dean for clinical and translational research and SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine.

A new UB study, funded by a $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, is seeking to learn whether offering children alternatives like music, homework or imaginative play can prevent them from overeating.

Faculty and staff from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences are expected to begin moving into the new medical school building in downtown Buffalo in October and UB’s medical students will begin taking classes there in January 2018 under a timetable outlined by Michael E. Cain, MD, dean of the medical school and vice president for health sciences, during his annual state-of-the-school address.

An article about UB’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute interviews Timothy F. Murphy, MD, director of the institute and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research, and Gil I. Wolfe, MD, professor and Irwin and Rosemary Smith Chair of neurology, about how it is reshaping medical research in Western New York.

An article about organizations that have benefited from Buffalo Billion funding includes a $50 million commitment to create a partnership between UB and the New York Genome Center in Manhattan to develop new ways to treat, prevent and manage serious diseases based on genomic medical research.

An article on the growth of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and its impact on Buffalo notes that after the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital complete their moves downtown this fall, 15,000 people are expected to work on the medical campus.

An article in Parade magazine about Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly details his fight against cancer and reports he founded the Hunter James Kelly Research Institute at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in the memory of his late son, who died of Krabbe disease at the age of 8.

A story on WIVB-TV about bacteria that are becoming increasingly antibiotic resistant and the growing concerns these “superbugs” are causing interviews Thomas Russo MD, and John Crane, MD, PhD, both professors of medicine. "They are winning the race and we are now in catch up mode,” says Russo, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “For most people, if you can stay out of the hospital, yes, your chance with coming down with one of these really bad drug-resistant pathogens is relatively low,” says Crane.

WIVB highlighted UB Heals, a street medicine outreach initiative of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The program, founded by third-year medical student Moudi Hubeishy, provides impromptu checkups to people who may not get into clinics very often.

An article about the surge in the number of people who have signed up for the state’s health insurance exchange over the past month and factors that are influencing people to sign up for insurance while it is still available to help them quotes Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy. “I doubt anybody wants to weather the maelstrom of costing 20 million people their health insurance,” she said.

UB faculty are part of a Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Among those making presentations are Linda F. Pessar, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Medical Humanities in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “My focus will be on Beethoven's remarkable resiliency that led him to turn away from suicide, despite the social isolation and threat to his musical creativity that deafness represented,” Pessar said.

The installation of terra cotta panels on the exterior of the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building downtown includes a total of 27,646 panels. The building will be covered in 105,000 square feet of terra cotta panels, each weighing 70 pounds and measuring 1-foot-by-5-feet, and are designed to hold up for 30 or more years.

WKBW-TV reported on a study that aims to teach children new tools that will lead to healthier lifestyles, and quotes Alexis O’Brien, project coordinator in the Department of Pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “Even as adults we look at something and we say I know this isn’t good for me, but we'll still sometimes have it and for children it can be even more difficult,”  O'Brien said.

An editorial urges state lawmakers to support Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s follow-up plan to the Buffalo Billion, which would direct another $500,000 to Buffalo to build on the results produced by the first part of the Buffalo Billion, and notes that the new program would work to expand the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, create an investment hub on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and expand the Metro Rail to the UB North Campus, among other initiatives.

A story about Tom Price, who has been nominated to serve as Health and Human Services Secretary, interviews Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health, who said she knows Price well after working with him as a health policy advisor and as past president of the American Medical Association.

A story on the opioid epidemic interviews Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health, about the role physicians have played.

Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy, was interviewed regarding the threatened repeal of the Affordable Care Act and loopholes like the special enrollment periods that allow people to sign up for health care within 60 days of a major life event interviews

Anne B. Curtis, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor; Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and chair of medicine, was asked about broken heart syndrome after actress Debbie Reynolds died one day after her daughter, Carrie Fisher.

Among trends that are expected to impact health care in 2017 is an experimental smartphone app developed by Peter L. Elkin, MD, professor and chair of biomedical informatics, that pairs interested patients with nearby clinical trials whose area of study dovetails with their condition.

A story about the divided opinions in the medical community about the future of the Affordable Care Act interviews Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy.

Two new studies have found that the use of intravenous thrombolysis with tPA did not enhance outcomes for stroke patients.

Steven L. Dubovsky, MD, professor and chair of psychiatry, talks about the psychology of hate crimes and why they take place and notes hate crimes are on the rise.

Confusion over paperwork specifying end-of-life wishes may result in more aggressive treatment than patients want, says Brian Clemency, DO, MBA, associate professor of emergency medicine and first author on a study of the forms.

Ellen P. Rich, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine, commented on a new study that shows that female doctors may be better, even though they earn on average $20,000 less than male doctors.