BUFFALO, N.Y. – A vaccine to combat the growing threat of bird flu. Artificial intelligence tools that improve early childhood literacy. Combining Bach and Coltrane to push the boundaries of musical expression

These achievements, like many of the University at Buffalo’s research endeavors, are poised to have a wide-ranging and long-lasting positive impact, both locally and globally. They represent the tip of the iceberg in yet another year of bold scholarly activity.

“For decades, UB has changed the world for the better through our research and creative pursuits,” said Venu Govindaraju, senior vice president for research, innovation and economic development at UB. “Our leadership produces clear and extraordinary benefits for public good, from improving economic competitiveness and national security to educating tomorrow’s leaders and creating more vibrant communities. Together, our research and artistic endeavors serve as powerful engines of progress, shaping a safer, healthier and brighter future.“

As 2025 comes to a close, here’s a look back at just some of the impressive accomplishments from UB faculty and students, and the news mentions their work received.

Environment – Bacteria that eats ‘forever chemicals’

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are called “forever chemicals” for a reason. Because of their strong chemical bonds, they can take thousands of years to break down in the environment and human body. More troubling, they are linked to cancer, thyroid disease and other severe health problems.

Earlier this year, UB researchers reported on bacteria that can break down and transform at least three types of PFAS, and, perhaps even more crucially, some of the toxic byproducts of the bond-breaking process.

“The bond between carbon and fluorine atoms in PFAS is very strong, so most microbes cannot use it as an energy source. The F11 bacterial strain developed the ability to chop away the fluorine and eat the carbon,” said the study’s corresponding author, Diana Aga, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Henry M. Woodburn Chair in the Department of Chemistry, and director of the UB RENEW Institute.

Featured in: Popular Mechanics,  New Atlas and Academic Minute.

Medical imaging – Pain-free breast scans

Breast cancer is among the leading causes of death for women worldwide. Early detection – most commonly through mammograms and ultrasound – has saved countless lives. But each method has limitations.

A new imaging technique, under development at UB by Jun Xia, professor of biomedical engineering, aims to address some of these limitations while avoiding the pain some patients feel receiving mammograms.

“Our system, which is called OneTouch-PAT, combines advanced imaging, automation and artificial intelligence – all while enhancing patient comfort,” he said.

Featured in: New Atlas, Inavate and  DOT Med.

Psychology – Aging can lead to self-transcendence

We get better as we age. That’s the theme of a study by UB psychologist Hollen Reischer, who examined narrative self-transcendence in stories among late-midlife adults.

“The midlife crisis myth is that people can’t cope with aging and act out in maladaptive ways,” said Reischer. “But this research suggests that these transitions, typical of midlife, are in fact opportunities to examine one’s own identity and to shift toward adaptive perspectives that provide psychological support as one continues in life’s journey.”

High self-transcendence is associated with increased well-being, better mental health, coping skills and optimism.

Featured in: Vox, NPR and Neuroscience News.

Music – Bach meets Coltrane

Pairing the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and John Coltrane? Yes, UB music professor Jeffrey Scott went there. The result: a Grammy-winning composition that Scott’s colleagues, including UB faculty member Melissa White, performed on April 25 at Slee Hall. The work, which also features Scott’s original compositions and the poetry of A.B. Spellman, blends Western classical music, 20th century jazz and other music genres.

“I love classical music, love Bach. But I also love jazz and I love blues, and I love merengue, and I love salsa, I love samba and, yeah, I wanted to have an opportunity to put all of that into one big project, and this was the project,” Scott said on Driven to Discover, the University Communications podcast that explores the depth and richness of UB’s scholarly activity.

Featured in: Jazz Buffalo, Niagara Frontier Publications and Buffalo Hive.

Physics – Quantum computing on your laptop

Physicists rely on supercomputers or even artificial intelligence to simulate incredibly complex and dynamic quantum systems and their possible states.

But what if many of these problems could instead be solved on an ordinary laptop? UB physicists in 2025 moved us closer. They’ve extended a computationally affordable method known as the truncated Wigner approximation (TWA) — a physics shortcut that makes quantum math more manageable — to problems once thought to require massive computing power.

“Our approach offers a significantly lower computational cost and a much simpler formulation of the dynamical equations,” said the study’s corresponding author, Jamir Marino, assistant professor of physics. “We think this method could, in the near future, become the primary tool for exploring these kinds of quantum dynamics on consumer-grade computers.”

Featured in: Interesting Engineering, Live Science and Yahoo! Tech.

Education – AI-powered tutors

Reading proficiency among young children in the U.S. is declining, raising alarms about long-term academic and economic success.

UB researchers at The Center for Early Literacy and Responsible AI are addressing this looming crisis through the responsible use of AI. Formed in 2024 after receiving a $10 million federal grant, the center is developing tools such as AIRE, or AI Reading Enhancer, that improve phonics, word recognition and other key literacy skills with personalized learning exercises tailored to children’s linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

“In daily life, you're going to see the difference these tools will make. It’s going to positively impact teachers' work and children’s learning in real classrooms — and in your community,” said the center’s director X. Christine Wang, professor of learning and instruction in the Graduate School of Education.

Featured in: Education Week.

Bird flu – Potential breakthrough vaccine

Bird flu has been circulating among animals in North America since 2022, and some scientists worry it will soon jump to humans.

A vaccine under development at UB, led by biomedical engineering professor Jonathan Lovell, could be key to making sure this doesn’t happen. In experiments described this past spring, the vaccine demonstrated complete protection in mice against a deadly variant of the virus.

“We obviously have a lot more work to do, but the results thus far are extremely encouraging,” said Lovell. 

Lovell’s research is a potential step toward more potent, versatile and easy-to-produce vaccines that public health officials believe will be needed to counteract evolving bird flu strains that grow resistant to existing vaccines.

Featured in: The Independent, Yahoo! News Canada and WEHC-TV.

Public health – Air pollution linked to NICU admissions

Air pollution caused by auto emissions, wildfires and other sources is problematic for many people. It’s of particular concern for pregnant people due to the impact pollutants can have on the fetus.

A UB study from January examined this issue and found that newborns exposed in the last month of pregnancy to higher levels of nitrogen dioxide have a 30-35% higher risk of neonatal intensive care unit admission. For particulate matter exposure, newborns had an 11-22% increased risk.

“Our findings highlight the critical impact of air pollution during the final weeks of pregnancy, a time of heightened fetal vulnerability, and emphasize the significance of addressing air pollution exposure, even at lower levels,” said the study’s first author Yohane V.A. Phiri, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health.

Featured in: U.S. News & World Report, HealthDay and The Cool Down.

Pregnancy – Chili consumption can lower gestational diabetes

As lean sources of protein, complex carbohydrates and fiber, beans provide lots of nutritional power at a very affordable price. When consumed in chili during pregnancy, they may even help lower one’s risk for gestational diabetes, according to a UB study published in March.

Led by Xiaozhong Wen, associate professor of pediatrics, researchers found that pregnant women who ate chili once per month had a 3.5% risk of developing gestational diabetes, compared to 7.4% for expectant mothers who never ate chili.

The findings are important given the steady increase in gestational diabetes, which is initially diagnosed during pregnancy and, if untreated, can adversely affect the health of both mother and baby. 

Featured in: The New York Post, Newsweek and Motherly.

Architecture – Preserving the legacy of Robert T. Coles

To Albert Chao, it’s a house of stories — stories of a Black architect whose work isn’t celebrated enough. Chao should know. He had never heard of Robert Traynham Coles until he moved into Coles’ home and studio on Humboldt Parkway in Buffalo.

Chao, an adjunct instructor in the School of Architecture and Planning, is now working to preserve the building, renowned as a signature example of mid-century modern residential architecture, and create a community gathering space.

His goal? To “bring social justice to Buffalo’s East Side to model and inspire design, preservation and conservation that brings investment, health and well-being.”

Featured in: BTPM, Spectrum News 1 and Bloomberg.

Workplace – Managing stress, health

Nearly three out of four employees admit they can’t stop thinking about work after hours. This is problematic because “the stress of the workday bleeds into their evenings, drains their energy, strains relationships and even affects their health,” said Min-Hsuan Tu, associate professor of organization and human resources.

To address this issue, Tu led a study asking participants to reflect on their personal goals after work and plan how to accomplish them. This simple nonwork intervention, Tu found, can lead to improved well-being.

One notable exception? Workaholics. The exercise benefitted them the least, leading Tu and colleagues to flag them as a priority group for tailored recovery support.

Featured in: Newsweek.

Law – Racial disparities in felony murder cases

UB legal scholars Guyora Binder and Alexandra Harrington are shedding light on racial disparities regarding enforcement of New York’s felony murder law, which allows individuals and accomplices to be charged with murder for deaths occurring during inherently dangerous felonies, even if they didn't intend to kill.

The pair compiled a dataset of about 1,000 arrests and about 250 convictions. Their findings?

“Police are arresting Black and Latinx people for felony murder in numbers disproportionate to their makeup in the general population, and prosecutors are charging them with this crime, often when the defendants have not actually killed anyone,” Harrington said.

Featured in: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Art – ‘Birds of Buffalo’

Commuters passing through the newly renovated Delaware, Lackawanna and Western (DL&W) train terminal in downtown Buffalo will be greeted by a sprawling new mural created by UB art professor Joan Linder.

“Birds of Buffalo,” spanning nearly 300 feet of the train platform, features 154 species of local birds, drawn from sightings at nearby Tifft Nature Preserve. The work, created this fall, honors the region’s rich ecosystem and Roger Tory Peterson, the Jamestown-born naturalist who published the first field guide to birds in 1934.

A stone’s throw away, at Canalside, is “Destination,” a public sculpture by UB art professor Reinhard Reitzenstein, also unveiled in the autumn, that focuses on Buffalo’s legacy as a welcoming place for immigrants.

Featured in: The Buffalo News, Buffalo Spree and WKBW-TV.

AI – New tools to diagnose dyslexia

There is a nationwide shortage of speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists. As a result, many children with dyslexia and dysgraphia are neither diagnosed nor treated for these disorders. The lack of care often negatively impacts their learning and socio-emotional development.

To address this, UB researchers are pioneering artificial intelligence-powered handwriting analysis tools that can detect dyslexia and dysgraphia. “Catching these neurodevelopmental disorders early is critically important to ensuring that children receive the help they need,” said Venu Govindaraju, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at UB, who is leading the effort.

The work is part of the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education at UB, which develops AI systems that identify and assist young children with speech and language-processing disorders.

Featured in: Academic Minute, Digital Journal and Neuroscience News.

Misinformation – It’s a long, complicated history

The internet is a convenient scapegoat for societal concerns about misinformation, but pointing fingers exclusively at the digital age is narrow and limiting.

In “Misinformation and Society,” a new book by Yotam Ophir, associate professor of communication, the author comprehensively unravels the complexities of misinformation, noting that it has been around almost as long as people have been communicating with one another.

“We imagine ourselves as a rational species that can process large amounts of information and make educated decisions, but when you move out to a bird’s eye view of human evolution you realize that we did not develop to identify the truth. We evolved to identify immediate risks, not distanced ones,” said Ophir, who is frequently interviewed by news outlets for his expertise in misinformation.

Featured in: Newsweek, The Washington Post and VOX.

Humanities – Recognizing a forgotten poet

Cristanne Miller, professor emerita of English, was awarded a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to spotlight the life and career of Marianne Moore. Despite receiving nearly every major U.S. poetry award, Moore never became a household name like her peers – a slight Miller partly attributes to sexism.

Miller will use the grant to add 12 notebooks kept by Moore to the Marianne Moore Digital Archive, which will greatly increase public access to the poet’s thought process and work.

The grant came on the heels of Miller receiving the highest honor from The Emily Dickinson International Society in June for her scholarship on the 19th century poet.

Featured in: Women in Academia Report.