Department of Biological Sciences

3/4/21

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 alumni shape the future

5/26/21

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).

11/13/19 Learn more about our alumni

Our faculty are global leaders in FoxG1 research

11/2/20

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'

5/4/18

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

5/4/18

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

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APPLY TO ONE OF OUR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

APPLY TO ONE OF OUR GRADUATE PROGRAMS

FALL 2021

SEMINAR SERIES

THURSDAYS at 4:00 p.m.
Location: Clemens 120
*Seminars also available via Zoom.

Oct 21: Chelsie Armbruster, UB: Polymicrobial urinary tract infections: composition and consequences.

Nov 4: Vaishnavi Rajagopal, Bioverativ/Sanofi: Discovering peptide therapeutics using mRNA display technology.

Nov 18: Christian Landry, Leval University: Short and long-term impacts of gene duplications

Dec 2: David Enard, University of Arizona: Ancient viral epidemics through the lens of host genomes.

Dec 9: Tatiana Mishanina, University of California San Diego

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*UB community log in to access Zoom. The community-at-large may contact Laura Rusche (lrusche@buffalo.edu) for zoom seminar invitation.

8/29/20 Lean more about our events

Student and Alumni Highlights

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What, exactly, is a species? We collaborate to define answers.
10/13/21
A research study authored by Jessie Pelosi, ’19, concludes 'Corals once thought to be a single species are really two'. Pelosi, a 2019 UB graduate in Environmental Geosciences and Biological Sciences, is featured in UB News about the now-published work that he began as an Honors undergraduate in the Department of Biological Sciences. Also collaborating on the research were Trevor Krabbenhoft, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and Moisés A. Bernal, who worked on the study in our department as postdoctoral researcher, and is now Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Auburn University. Read the news story by Charlotte Hsu.
Distinguished Scholar Athletes
10/7/21
The Mid-American Conference announced the Distinguished Scholar Athletes for the 2020-21 academic season and, from the UB Department of Biological Sciences, three student-athletes made the list: Alex McNulty; Julia Bosell; and Pia Schwartz.
2021 fellowships awarded to four undergraduate students
5/10/21
The Department of Biological Sciences at the University at Buffalo is pleased to announce that Ryan Swick, Alaina Bailey, Sydney Brongo, and Emily Bouffard are each recipients of our 2021 undergraduate fellowships. The fellowships are made possible by the generous support of our donors. The awards recognize each undergraduate student's outstanding academic achievements and services at UB.
Savannah Sojka wins UB Graduate School’s 2021 Excellence in Teaching Award
5/25/21
The Department of Biological Sciences is pleased to announce that Savannah Sojka has won the University at Buffalo Graduate School's 2021 Excellence in Teaching Award for Graduate Teaching Assistants. Savannah is currently a PhD candidate in Dr. Denise Ferkey’s lab and has worked as a teaching assistant in the Genetics and Developmental Biology lab courses.
PhD student TJ Krzystek wins 2021 Niciszewska Mucha Dissertation Fellowship
5/4/21
The Department of Biological Sciences is pleased to announce that PhD student Thomas 'TJ' Kryzstek was awarded the Stephanie T. Niciszewska Mucha Dissertation Completion Fellowship for his work in the laboratory of Dr. Shermali Gunawardena. The fellowship award of $9,000. is made possible by the generous bequest of Stephanie Niciszewska Mucha. The award recognizes Kryzstek's Polish heritage, outstanding academic record and promise of productive scholarship. As part of the fellowship, TJ traced the Krzystek family’s roots back to Spytkowice, Poland, in the 1800's.
Two recent alumnae recognized by the 2020 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
3/31/21
The Department of Biological Sciences is pleased to announce that two recent alumnae have received recognition from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships Program. During their time at UB, both were part of our Honors Program run by Dr. Jessica Poulin.
Long Shen, PhD (2003), works on tools to increase COVID-19 testing capacity and afford better patient management, and yield critical data to aid in the recovery from the pandemic
1/5/21
UB Biological Sciences Alum Long Shen, PhD (2003), is a founding partner of KSL Biomedical. Drawing upon scientific and medical training in Xiamen University, China and the University at Buffalo, USA, he has performed as translational biomedical research innovative scientific program leader for over 15 years in academic programs and private industry. Dr. Shen has made significant contributions to the identification of novel biomarkers for the early diagnosis of autoimmune disease and associated B-cell lymphomas. Dr. Shen has authored more than 25 peer-reviewed publications in high impact research journals and is co-inventor on a number patents in this field. Read the research news article by Charlotte Hsu.
Kathleen Ohman wins ASA Award for Undergraduate Student Research in Acoustics
11/8/19
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) has named Kathleen Ohman the winner of the Robert W. Young Award for Undergraduate Research in Acoustics. The ASA is the premiere international scientific society in acoustics, dedicated to increasing and diffusing the knowledge of acoustics and promoting its practical application. Ohman, a Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors student, studies the effects of blast-induced traumatic brain injury on mouse vocalizations.
Biological Sciences majors win 2020 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence
1/5/21
Congratulations to Megan Dwyer, Katherine Eaton, and Kathleen Ohma. Our Biological Sciences majors are among the winners of the 2020 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, the highest honor the State University of New York bestows upon its students. The annual award recognizes and honors students who have best demonstrated and been recognized for integrating academic excellence with accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts, campus involvement or career achievement.

Faculty News

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Experiential Learning: Produce honey for distribution within community
10/13/21
David Hoekstra's experiential learning project came from an idea generated within the community. “Students saw there was a need to give back. If people have ideas for classes, research or programming, I am all about it.” With bees producing a surplus of wildflower honey, Hoekstra decided to donate a portion to the UB Blue Table food pantry. Honey in 4-ounce jars will be gifted to the food pantry and Campus Dining and Shops, and 16-ounce jars will be sold to the community to help fund UB Bees. Read the news story by Tessie Mar.
Gokcumen studies possible functions of GHRd3
10/18/17
“It is an exciting time for doing research on human evolution, where it is now possible to integrate data from ancient genomes, gene-editing technologies and advanced mathematical approaches to tell the human story in all its messy glory,” says UB evolutionary biologist Omer Gokcumen. Read the news article by Charlotte Hsu.
Krabbenhoft wins award from American Fisheries Society
9/3/21
Trevor Krabbenhoft has won the American Fisheries Society Genetics Section Early Career Award. This annual award recognizes early-career researchers in the field of fisheries genetics. The goal of this award is to promote innovative and particularly applicable genetics research, increase interest in fisheries genetics careers, and enhance professional connections among fisheries geneticists.
The Genetics Society of America appoints Laura Rusche to editorial board of its journal, GENETICS
9/2/21
The Genetics Society of America (GSA) announced the appointment of Laura Rusche, PhD, as associate editor on the editorial board of its journal, GENETICS, in the Gene Expression Section. Since 1916, GENETICS has published high–quality, original research presenting novel findings bearing on genetics and, more recently, genomics. The journal publishes empirical studies of organisms ranging from microbes to humans, as well as theoretical work. Rusche has published several of her own papers in GENETICS and says she is honored to be selected for this editorial position. Rusche looks forward to helping colleagues share their studies on gene expression. Read GSA's announcement, here.
Gunawardena Lab examines how alpha-synuclein disrupts the health and movement of mitochondria
9/2/21
“When fruit fly larvae expressed alpha-synuclein at elevated levels similar to what is seen in Parkinson’s disease, many of the mitochondria we observed became unhealthy, and many became fragmented. Through detailed experiments, we also showed that different parts of the alpha-synuclein protein seem to be responsible for these two problems, and that fragmented mitochondria can actually be healthy. This is a key finding, because before, people thought fragmented mitochondria were unhealthy mitochondria,” says Associate Professor Shermali Gunawardena, PhD. Read the news article by Charlotte Hsu.
Jae W. Lee wins NIH $2.6M grant to study development of the hypothalamus
7/30/21
The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $2.6M grant to Professor Jae W. Lee, PhD, to study the gene regulatory network that directs the development of various types of neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. These neurons regulate crucial processes such as feeding, reproduction, and growth. Dr. Lee's innovative study aims to radically improve our understanding of how neuronal lineage is determined in the arcuate nucleus, leading to the balanced production of diverse neuronal types during development. Learn more about Dr. Lee's project, Transcription factors governing the development of GHRH-neuron, here.
MacGuigan wins NSF postdoctoral fellowship
7/6/21
Dr. Dan MacGuigan, a postdoctoral fellow in the Krabbenhoft Fish Genomics Laboratory, was awarded an NSF fellowship to support his work examining how parallel genomic changes drive parallel morphological divergence both within and across species. MacGuigan's research focuses on parallel evolution in the fish fauna of the Carolina bays, an understudied series of freshwater lakes along the Atlantic coastal plain. These young lakes harbor several unique species plus replicate populations of the same species, providing a natural experiment to compare parallel evolution among versus within species.

News

For Prospective Students

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Virtual Open House
10/13/21
November 6, Saturday, 10:00 AM to 12:00 noon (ET): Join us online for this year's virtual open house. The event, hosted by Professors Michael Yu, David Hoekstra, Shermali Gunawardena, and Vincent Lynch, includes faculty discussions about current research. Activities begin promptly and feature research poster presentations by our graduate students, along with Q&A sessions about the ins-and-outs of graduate school. There will be plenty of opportunities to meet graduate students and faculty in our department. Register for the Virtual Open House here.

Research Areas

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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.
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.
Microbiology
6/6/18
Microbiology faculty study microorganisms including viruses, bacteria, and protozoans.
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.
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.
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.
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.

See All

FALL 2021

Student and Alumni Highlights

Faculty News

For Prospective Students

Research Areas

UB Biological Sciences Recent News

Department of Biological Sciences