Department of Biological Sciences

Our alumni shape the future

4/26/22

We take great pride in the achievements and success of our alumni, many of whom enjoy distinguished careers in the Biological, Biomedical and related fields. Pictured at the UB CAS graduate commencement, May 15, 2021 (left to right): Haniam Maria (PhD graduate), Laura Rusche (faculty), Paul Cullen (faculty), Aditi Prabhakar (PhD graduate), Rupkatha Banerjee (PhD graduate), Shermali Gunawardena (faculty).

1/27/22 Learn more about our alumni

Our students learn by doing

4/26/22

Our curriculum provides students broad and deep training at the cutting edge of modern biology through a learn-by-doing philosophy. Our approach to teaching cross-disciplinary life sciences prepares students for today's accelerating pace of discovery in biological sciences.

2/23/21 We invite you to apply to the program

Our faculty are global leaders in FoxG1 research

4/26/22

Two UB scientists work to find a cure for daughter's rare disease. These neurobiologists and parents are now global leaders in FoxG1 research.

WGRZ-TV News Broadcast

Our faculty 'lead with the lab'

4/26/22

The instructional philosophy, 'lead with the lab', allows our students to develop critical thinking skills while providing broad, deep, state-of-the art training in all life science disciplines.

We cultivate an active community of inquiry

4/26/22

Faculty teaching and research connects academic programs and experiential labs to cultivate an active community of results-oriented inquiry.

4/12/21 Learn more about our research

BIO students help get bees buzzin’ at UB

4/26/22

Our Genetics course (BIO-319) inspires the study of 240,000 bees buzzing in six hives on the North Campus, thanks to the persistence of a bee-loving undergradute student and faculty members. Read UB Now.

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APPLY TO ONE OF OUR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

APPLY TO ONE OF OUR GRADUATE PROGRAMS

2022 COMMENCEMENT

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CLASS OF 2022

Undergraduate Student Speaker
MUMNOON ISLAM
Biological Sciences BA '22

SEE COMMENCEMENT
CEREMONY PROGRAMS
AND VIDEO STREAMING:

GRADUATE CEREMONY
Friday, May 20

UNDERGRADUATE CEREMONY
Sunday, May 22

SPRING 2022 FELLOWSHIPS

ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS
OF OUR 2022 UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS

Congratulations to:
Aniket Maini, Raszl Fellowship
Nathan Pfeffer, Abate Fellowship

Learn more about undergraduate fellowship opportunities, here.

Student and Alumni Highlights

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BIO major Paul Dewan, Jr., wins Goldwater Fellowship
4/20/22
The Department of Biological Sciences is pleased to announce that Paul Dewan, Jr, has won the prestigious Goldwater Fellowship for 2022. Dewan, a junior majoring in biological sciences, participates in the department’s Honors program, and conducts research in the lab of Dr. Priya Banerjee, Department of Physics.
BIO Major Katherine Camper named Furnas Scholar-Athlete
5/10/22
Congratulations to Katherine Camper on being named UB's Furnas Scholar-Athlete of 2022. Learn more.
Holly O’Shea wins UB Graduate School’s Excellence in Teaching Award
4/20/22
The Department of Biological Sciences is proud to announce that Holly O’Shea has won the UB Graduate School’s Excellence in Teaching Award for the year 2022. This prestigious award recognizes the skill and dedication of graduate students as a teacher. Holly is currently a PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Soo Lee, Empire Innovation Professor and was co-nominated for the award by Dr. Jae Lee, Professor, and Dr. Jessica Poulin, Clinical Associate Professor.
Campbell Vogt wins grant from Rochester Academy of Sciences
2/28/22
The UB Department of Biological Sciences is pleased to announce that Campbell Vogt, a student in our Honors program, has won a grant from the Rochester Academy of Sciences to carry out research with Dr. Laura Rusche. Vogt’s research focuses on the evolutionary history of the yeast protein Sir3, which blocks gene expression, and is a major focus of the Rusche lab.

Recent Graduate

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BIO major Monique Kapur-Mauleon graduates in just one year
4/20/22
Recent graduate Monique Kapur-Mauleon had her pick of dental school offers, but has chosen to stay at UB. Monique’s highly inquisitive approach to learning immediately stood out to her Developmental Biology professor, Dr. Ferkey, who looks forward to keeping in touch with Monique as she progresses through her master’s and doctoral degrees. Read the UB News story.

Department News

Faculty Research News

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Lindqvist provides insight into the evolutionary history of bears
6/8/22
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study led by Charlotte Lindqvist that analyzed the genomes of 64 modern polar and brown bears, including several new genomes from Alaska, a state where both species are found. The team also produced a new, more complete genome for a polar bear that lived 115,000 to 130,000 years ago in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. DNA for the ancient polar bear was extracted from a tooth attached to a subfossil jawbone, which is now housed at the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo. Read the news story by Charlotte Hsu.
David Hoekstra wins teaching award from Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools
4/20/22
Dr. David Hoekstra, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded the 2022 Graduate Faculty Teaching Award by the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NAGS) at the Master’s level. NAGS is comprised of all graduate schools across the Northeast and also includes graduate schools in the Canadian southeast.
Lynch Lab uses evolutionary genomics and comparative cell biology to study Peto’s paradox
6/8/22
“Understanding how some animals evolved to be relatively cancer-free despite having giant bodies and living a really long time is all about understanding how evolution works,” says Vincent Lynch, associate professor of biological sciences, College of Arts and Sciences. “If you can figure out how it is these animals evolved to be relatively cancer-free, we can learn something about evolution and maybe that can teach us something about how we can treat cancer in humans.” Read more.
Jessica Poulin wins MAC Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success
3/8/22
The Department of Biological Sciences is pleased to announce that Dr. Jessica Poulin, Clinical Associate Professor, has won the 2022 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success. She is among the twelve institutional winners recognized for their outstanding efforts to support and develop students both inside and outside of the classroom. She is past recipient of the Milton Plesur Excellence in Teaching Award, and, the UB Teaching Innovation Award.

Department News

Noteworthy

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PBS cites research by Vincent Lynch to better understand elephantoid genome
6/22/22
The Wolly Mammoth always attracts attention, which is why PBS Digital Studios features the episode, How To Build A Woolly Mammoth (But Should We?) Presented by PBS Eons, host Blake de Pastino is on a "quest to understand how evolution basically built the woolly mammoth, we may have found the blueprints for building them ourselves." The segment cites Vincent Lynch's research on elephantoid genome.
Omer Gokcumen interviewed by WNYC Radiolab: Neanderthal's Revenge
6/15/22
Omer Gokcumen's work on evolutionary genomics was featured on Radioshop, in a segment entitled Neanderthal's Revenge. The program's co-host, Latif Nasser, reported on his own "medical journey that made him not only question what was going on in his body, but also dig into the secret genetic story of how we became human." While looking into the origins of Crohn's Disease, Nasser came upon a research article by Gokcumen. The full podcast is here.

Department News

Research Areas

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Microbiology
6/6/18
Microbiology faculty study microorganisms including viruses, bacteria, and protozoans.
Genetics
5/4/18
Geneticists investigate biological processes by examining the phenotypic consequences of altering genes. Our faculty study how information encoded in DNA is interpreted to produce functional proteins.
Animal Models
6/6/18
Faculty study essential biological processes with particular relevance to the understanding of animal life.
Cell and Molecular
5/4/18
Cell and Molecular faculty study the regulation of protein expression, from transcription to translation to post-translational modification.
Plant Science
5/4/18
Faculty research focuses on photosynthesis, plant evolution, plant genomics, gene regulation, environmental remediation, and the metabolic engineering of pharmaceutical compounds.
Signaling
5/4/18
Signaling faculty study cellular communication and the intracellular pathways that regulate activity. These faculty use a wide range of model organisms and techniques to examine a diverse array of signalling pathways involved in hormonal regulation, sensory transduction, and cell growth and metabolism.
Genomics
5/4/18
Faculty study evolutionary change using a variety of techniques capitalizing on recent advances in genomics methodology and the evolution of viruses, plants, fish, and humans.
Neuroscience
5/4/18
Our faculty study a variety of model systems using electrophysiology and imaging techniques to understand sensory signalling and the cellular processes underlying important neuronal disorders.
Ecology and Evolution
5/4/18
Our research concerns plant evolutionary biology; molecular phylogenetics and population genomics; chromatin and gene expression; genome stability; and the genetics of aquatic invertebrates.
Fungal Biology
5/4/18
Our faculty study cell biology and signalling pathways that are used by filamentous fungi and budding yeast to adapt to their environments. Our research uses yeast as a model organism to study the mechanisms of gene expression.