BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Honorable Professor Heneri Dzinotyiweyi, Zimbabwe Minister of Science and Technology Development, will visit Buffalo on Tuesday, Feb. 19, to tour two University at Buffalo research facilities and to discuss the vision and implementation strategy for the Zimbabwe International Nanotechnology Center (ZINC) with its primary academic partner, UB.

Dzinotyiweyi will visit the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics (ILPB) in 458 Natural Sciences Complex on the North Campus from 10 a.m. to noon.

He will then tour the UB New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences at the corner of Ellicott and Virginia streets in Buffalo from 3:15-5 p.m.

Paras Prasad, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Physics, Medicine and Electrical Engineering, the Samuel P. Capen Chair and executive director of the ILPB, will coordinate the morning’s activities on the North Campus.

Gene D. Morse, PharmD, professor of pharmacy practice and associate director of the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences and director of the Translational Pharmacy Research Core, will coordinate the afternoon’s activities at the CoE.

With 14 percent of Zimbabwe's population living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis as a co-infection, the need for new drugs and new formulations of available treatments is crucial.

To address these issues, the UB-UZ AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) has led an initiative with two of UB’s leading research centers, the ILPB and the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, to launch (ZINC) -- a national nanotechnology research program -- with the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and the Chinhoyi University of Technology.

“We are very excited about the visit of Professor Heneri Dzinotyiweyi to the University at Buffalo,” said Morse.  

“Professor Dzinotyiweyi’s visit to the ILPB as well as the CoE provides an opportunity for faculty leaders, regional scientists and public officials to discuss the recently announced international collaboration of UB and ZINC.”

Morse also said that with an international program like ZINC, UB is hoping to attract pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms who will have similar interests in joining this unique partnership that will enhance the likelihood of economic success through efficient, innovative research.

"Locally, these efforts will be linked to the growing Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, resulting in a truly global partnership with one anchor in Buffalo – a comprehensive 'UB matrix' of innovation and excellence," says Morse.

Media interested in the minister’s visit should contact Sara R. Saldi in the Office of University Communications at 716-645-4593.