January 31, 2002-Vol33n15: Q&A

VOLUME 33, NUMBER 15

THURSDAY, January 31, 2002


	WILLIAMS

Noreen Williams is director of the Witebsky Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, and associate professor of microbiology.

What is the mission of the Witebsky Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology?
The main mission of the Witebsky Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology is to foster interaction among scientists with common interests in pathogenic organisms and their hosts. The collaborative projects that have arisen as a result of these interactions have been highly successful in developing new overlapping areas of research and attracting funding for these projects. This year, our funding for on-site members alone will be more than $6 million and has shown a steady increase. As part of that mission, we also co-sponsor four different meetings in areas of interest to our members, including microbial pathogenesis, immunology, DNA replication and RNA. These meetings include presentations by nationally and internationally known speakers from outside the university, as well as center members, both students and faculty.

The center is a result of the merger of the Witebsky Center for Immunology and The Center for Microbial Pathogenesis. Why the merger?
In June 2000, the Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and the Witebsky Center for Immunology merged to incorporate the strengths of both groups and to further development in their commonly held research interests. The Center for Microbial Pathogenesis was organized in 1995 by UB faculty members who shared a common interest in investigating aspects of microbial life and microbe-induced pathogenesis. The Witebsky Center for Immunology was founded in 1967 for the purpose of enhancing research in immunology in Buffalo. Many of the faculty involved already were members of both groups, and this merger formalized that relationship.

The center is named for Dr. Ernst Witebsky. Who was he?
Dr. Ernest Witebsky was professor and chair (1941-1967) of the Department of Bacteriology—now the Department of Microbiology—here at UB and a renowned immunologist. When he stepped down as chair, he was appointed as the first director of the Center for Immunology, which later was renamed in his honor.

How many faculty members are affiliated with the center?
The combined center has 19 on-site members with primary or secondary appointments in five different departments in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences—Anesthesiology, Biochemistry, Medicine, Microbiology and Pathology—as well as the School of Dental Medicine and the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. These researchers occupy two-and-a-half floors of the Biomedical Research Building on the South Campus. In addition, there are more than 50 off-site members who are located both within UB and at other universities and hospitals throughout the greater Buffalo area. The center recently brought three additional immunologists into the on-site research facilities, and additional members with strength in immunology likely will be added in the near future. At the same time, the center has maintained its already existing strengths in bacteriology, parasitology, virology and host-microbe interactions.

What types of research projects are under way?
The research on-going in the center covers a wide range of projects, from very basic topics such as microbial gene regulation to very applied areas such as vaccine development against pathogenic microbes.

I understand that graduate training is a major focus of the center. Can you elaborate?
Research training at all levels is a strength of the center. Its laboratories currently are training 32 graduate students and 19 postdoctoral fellows, as well as a number of undergraduate and high school students who participate in research programs here each year. Some of our graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are funded through our National Institutes of Health Training Grant in the area of microbial pathogenesis. Members of the center also participate in NIH training grants for dental students and undergraduates. A number of members of the center also are mentors for outreach programs in the Buffalo area and through an NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Undergraduate Minority Research Program. Center members participate in a weekly research meeting that includes presentations by both students and faculty. This gives the students a chance to prepare for national meeting presentations.