Campagnari Named SUNY Distinguished Professor

Campagnari was chosen to receive the honor in recognition of his international prominence and distinguished reputation within his chosen field.

The rank of distinguished professor is an order above full professorship. According to SUNY, “this distinction is attained through significant contributions to the research literature. The candidate’s work must be of such character that the individual’s presence will tend to elevate the standards of scholarship of colleagues both within and beyond these persons’ academic fields.”

“I was both surprised and humbled to receive such a prestigious honor,” Campagnari says. “Being selected to join the ranks of such outstanding researchers, clinicians and educators is truly a defining moment in my career.”

“However, I could not have reached this level of achievement without the support of many exceptional graduate students, colleagues and staff, and I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to all those individuals,” he adds.  

Campagnari is an international leader in the discovery and treatment of infectious diseases. He is arguably one of the world’s experts in the pathogenesis of the Gram-negative bacteria associated with otitis media — or middle ear infections.

His research group was the first to show that antimicrobial photodynamic therapy elicits bactericidal activity versus Moraxella catarrhalis biofilms, a discovery that could change the paradigm for treatment of otitis media. His team also developed a novel mouse model to provide new insights into secondary bacterial pneumonia caused by Staphylococcus aureus.

Campagnari’s research — funded continuously for more than 28 years by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense and the Office of Naval Research, as well as industry and private foundations — has led to 80 peer-reviewed publications, eight book chapters and five U.S. patents.

As senior associate dean for research and graduate education, Campagnari works to advance biomedical research at UB, especially interdisciplinary and translational research collaborations.

A UB alumnus himself, Campagnari earned both his master’s degree in natural sciences and his doctorate in tumor immunology from the university.

He was appointed at UB in 1987, joined the faculty as a tenured associate professor in 1996 and was promoted to professor in 2001.

Campagnari is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He is a recipient of the UB Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement (2002), the UB Visionary Innovator Award (2008), the UB Inventor and Entrepreneur Award (2009), the UB Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award (2015), the Stockton Kimball Award (2016) and the Distinguished Biomedical Alumnus Award from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (2017), and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities (2017).

The SUNY Board of Trustees announced the appointment at its March 20 meeting.