Medical School Faculty, Staff Recognized for Excellence in 2015

• Drucy S. Borowitz, MD, clinical professor of pediatrics

Borowitz received the award for her outstanding scientific achievement and service. She has a “clinical and scholarly passion for the care of patients with cystic fibrosis,” noted Suzanne G. Laychock, PhD, senior associate dean for faculty affairs and facilities, who presented the award.

Borowitz is an internationally recognized expert in nutrition and the involvement of the intestine and lung in cystic fibrosis.

For most of her 27-year career at the University at Buffalo, the physician-scientist also directed the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.

She has pioneered research using novel agents and dietary supplements to address the challenges her patients face with colonopathy and pulmonary function.

Borowitz will deliver the Stockton Kimball Lecture in 2016.

• Kathleen A. Wiater, senior associate dean for communications

This award recognizes an individual who has provided extraordinary service to the school and has gone above and beyond the call of duty to make a difference.

Wiater, who oversees web marketing for the school's departments and major programs, received it for her “sustained and transforming contribution,” said Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and medical school dean.

“Kathleen and her very dedicated and tirelessly working group of outstanding individuals has — for the last six to seven years — given all of us a true gift: a completely transformed, updated, dynamic, stakeholder-driven website.”

“The website serves as the single most common way the world comes to know about faculty and our school as a whole. Her group epitomizes achievement of excellence in everything they do,” he noted.

• Elaine C. Taylor, ophthalmology residency program coordinator and assistant to the chair of the Department of Ophthalmology

Taylor, who has been with the department for 30 years, is a “quintessential manager, juggling disparate wants and needs, policies and requirements with cheerful aplomb and quiet competence,” said Cain.

“She is goal directed and independent, getting done what needs doing according to her strong work ethic, job mastery, and timely, efficient, reliable and competent management skills.”

“Her leadership and initiative have played a strong role in the advancement of the department over many years in a constant search for improvement,” Cain added.

Named for a former medical school dean, this award recognizes outstanding staff members or volunteers who contribute significantly to the advancement of the medical school and its mission.

• James R. Hereth, MD, clinical instructor of medicine

Hereth’s colleagues know him as a “tireless educator,” said UB Distinguished Professor Anne B. Curtis, MD, Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and chair of medicine, who presented the Berkson award.

One medical student who trained under Hereth reported: “Dr. Hereth was very interested in teaching, which I appreciated. He took the time to give short lectures regarding important critical care topics, which provided me with information I had not received anywhere else. He was an excellent teacher and made me feel like a valued member of the team.”

“He is a wonderful teacher and one of the best attendings I have had in my medical school career,” said another student. “He is very supportive of my learning, he gave me feedback on my presentations, and he helped me improve without making me feel inadequate.”

This award recognizes volunteer faculty members for their patient care and teaching abilities. It is named for a Buffalo internist and medical school alumnus who was actively involved in teaching medical students and residents.

These awards recognize individuals who work to create a welcoming climate of respect and inclusiveness for all.

• Kim Griswold, MD, associate professor of family medicine, psychiatry and social and preventive medicine

Griswold “provides comprehensive care to seriously mentally ill adults, particularly within the refugee and immigrant community,” said Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, senior associate dean for inclusion and cultural enhancement.

“Her passion for working with the underserved is inspirational to the students and residents she works with.” 

• James R. Olson, PhD, UB Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology

“Olson’s research focused on assessing the health risks of exposure to environmental toxins — in particular, organophosphate pesticides and persistent halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons,” said Dubocovich.

“His work is significant both from a toxicological and public health perspective. He aims to improve workplace- and environmental-health worldwide.”

• Elizabeth Marshall, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology

Marshall is "integral to our mission of creating an inclusive and diverse community within the medical school,” said Dubocovich.

“A staff member in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and a communications associate in the Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement, Liz has made important contributions to the development of all our inclusion and diversity programs and initiatives that involve undergraduates, medical students, residents, graduate students and faculty.”

• Dan Kuhr
• Chris Manschreck
• Sarina Meikle
• Nina Paroff
• Maddie Ryan
• Kathleen Soltis

• Shalana O’Brien, MD, Department of Surgery

• Robert E. Ackerhalt, PhD, clinical professor emeritus of nuclear medicine
• John Zaharkin Jr., senior lab equipment designer, physiology and biophysics

• John R. Cotter, PhD, associate professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, ophthalmology
• Samuel Gallant, pathology and anatomical sciences
• Seung-Kyoon Park, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry

• Thomas E. Brent, clinical instructor of psychiatry
• Donald H. Crawford Jr., clinical assistant professor of psychiatry
• James C. Cumella, clinical assistant professor of medicine
• James J. Czyrny, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics
• Darlene M. Dombroski, instructional support specialist, microbiology and immunology
• Saul P. Greenfield, MD, clinical associate professor of urology
• Kim Griswold, MD, associate professor of family medicine, psychiatry and social and preventive medicine
• Uriel Halbreich, MD, professor of psychiatry
• Wesley L. Hicks, MD, professor of otolaryngology
• Peter T. Ostrow, MD, adjunct professor of pathology and anatomical sciences
• Won H. Park, MD, academic scholar, psychiatry
• Barbara Segal, pediatrics
• Joseph A. Syracuse, toxicology research center
• Patricia A. Szymkowiak, staff assistant, resource management
• Elaine C. Taylor, ophthalmology residency program coordinator and assistant to the chair of ophthalmology

Also recognized were winners of the 2015 Louis A. and Ruth Siegel Awards for Excellence in Teaching.