Biochemistry @ UB: Faculty

              Department of Biochemistry
                                            School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
                                   Faculty & Research

Primary Appointment Faculty
Research Track Faculty
Adjunct Faculty

Primary Appointment Faculty

Kenneth M. Blumenthal Professor and Chairman; Ph.D., University of Chicago. Architecture and function of ion transport proteins.	Alexander C. Brownie Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., D.Sc., Edinburgh University.	Michael J. Buck Assistant Professor, Ph.D., North Carolina State University Systems biology approach to understand transcription regulation. Buck Lab Homepage
Murray J. Ettinger, Distinguished Teaching Professor; Ph.D., Hahnemann. The role of protein methylation in growth, differentiation and diseases of copper metabolism.	Michael D. Garrick Professor; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins. Iron metabolism; molecular genetics; medical genetics; hemoglobin biosynthesis; regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes; molecular evolution.	Richard M. Gronostajski Professor; Ph.D., Harvard University. Mechanisms of transcriptional activation and repression by the Nuclear Factor I family of transcription factors and their roles in nematode and mouse development. Gronostajski Lab Home Page
Marc S. Halfon Assistant Professor, Biochemistry; Asst. Prof., Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics; Ph.D., Yale University. Regulatory networks in Drosophila mesoderm development; cis-regulation of transcription, combinatorial intercellular signaling, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, and computational biology. Halfon Lab Home Page	Daniel J. Kosman Professor; Ph.D., Chicago. Genetics and biochemical mechanisms of iron and copper metabolism in yeast; cellular iron metabolism as a target in DNA virus pathogenesis; enzyme kinetics and mechanism in multicopper oxidases. Kosman Lab Home Page	Te-Chung Lee Associate Professor; Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth. Stem cell biology. Influence of aging on mesenchymal stem cells. Cell and gene therapy. Stem cell neurogenesis and cardiogenesis.
Mark R. O'Brian Professor; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins. Transcriptional and posttranscriptional control of gene expression; regulation of heme biosynthesis; heme-mediated signal transduction; oxidative stress response; iron metabolism.	Mulchand S. Patel UB Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Biomedical Research and Education; Ph.D., Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Structure-Function and gene targeting of mammalian pyruvate dehydrogenase complex; diet-induced obesity and metabolic programming.	Alfred S. Ponticelli Associate Professor; Ph.D., Washington (Seattle). Molecular mechanisms of eukaryotic RNA polymerase II transcription.
Gabriela Popescu Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University at Buffalo. Molecular physiology of NMDA RECEPTORS: activation mechanism, allosteric modulation, structure-function relationships and role in synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity (LTP/LTD) and neurodegenerative disorders. Popescu Lab Home Page	Lee Ann Garrett Sinha Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston. Role of ets transcription factors in hematopoiesis; B cell development and function; signal transduction pathways in B cells.	Satrajit Sinha Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston. Tanscriptional regulation of skin epidermal cell fate, development and differentiation. Sinha Lab Home Page
Jennifer A. Surtees Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Toronto. Genome stability, interaction of mismatch repair (MMR) proteins with DNA substrates and DNA repair.	Mark D. Sutton Associate Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State University. Regulation and coordination of DNA replication, DNA repair, and DNA damage tolerance.	Mary L. Taub Professor; Ph.D., Santa Barbara. Molecular mechanisms and signal transduction pathways in the regulation of kidney epithelial cell growth and differentiated function. Genetics.
Gail R. Willsky Associate Professor; Ph.D., Tufts. Vanadium and other transition metal metabolism in S. cerevisiae, diabetic animals and humans is studied using genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, magnetic resonance (⁵¹V-NMR and EPR), pharmacology and physiology techniques

*Research Track Faculty*
Christine E. Campbell	Research Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Toronto. The T-box family of transcription factors and their role in kidney development and disease.
Laura M. Garrick	Research Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Virginia. Intestinal and cellular iron absorption in the Belgrade rat which has an inactive form of Divalent Metal Transporter 1 (DMT1).
Malathi Srinivasan	Research Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Madras, Chennai, India. Metabolic programming induced by dietary manipulations in early life.

Adjunct Faculty
Piero Bianco	Assistant Professor, Microbiology; Assistant Professor, Biochemistry; Ph.D., University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Single molecule studies of DNA helicases involved in genetic recombination and DNA repair.
Robert E. Burrier	Vice President for Research and Development in Cell Culture Systems, Invitrogen Corporation, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Biochemistry; Ph.D., Boston University.
Shiu-Ming Kuo	Associate Professor, Nutrition; Research Associate Professor, Biochemistry; Ph.D., Cornell University. Phytochemicals and gene expression; regulation of ascorbic acid transport; intestinal cell differentiation.
Patricia Masso-Welch	Assistant Professor, Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences; Assistant Professor, Biochemistry; Ph.D., University at Buffalo. Chemopreventive stromal modulation; Breast cancer and normal breast development; Epithelial: stromal interactions; Angiogenesis.
Thomas Melendy	Associate Professor, Microbiology, Biochemistry; Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles. Mechanisms of eukaryotic DNA replication and regulation of replication by cellular DNA damage response pathways.
Edward G. Niles	Professor, Microbiology, Biochemistry; Ph.D., University of Massachusetts. Virology; vaccinia virus molecular genetics.
Laurie K. Read	Professor, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Ph.D., Tufts University School of Medicine. RNA editing and stability in Trypanosoma brucei; role of protein arginine methylation in post-transcriptional gene regulation.