Established in 2002, this award recognizes outstanding academic and creative achievements across a broad spectrum of scholarly and artistic fields. The award recipients are faculty members who consistently go above and beyond their teaching and professional duties to make extraordinary contributions to their respective fields.
Department of Psychology
Professor in the Department of Psychology, Craig Colder, PhD, produces pioneering research on risk and protective factors influencing youth substance use to advance understanding of why some youth experiment with drugs and alcohol and do not progress in their use while others escalate to problematic use and abuse. Understanding developmental pathways to substance use is critical for developing effective preventive interventions. His work includes numerous National Institutes of Health-funded longitudinal studies that integrate multiple levels of influence (temperament/personality, families, peers, communities) with the science of human development and advanced quantitative methods to understand risk trajectories. Colder is a fellow in the Association for Psychological Science and he has written more than 120 peer-reviewed articles.
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Haiqing Lin, PhD, is a renowned scholar who has made paradigm-shifting breakthroughs in the development of advanced membranes for practical applications. His research focuses on membrane separation science and technology—such as carbon dioxide capture, water purification, industrial gas separations, and polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cells—to address societal challenges. The recipient of a CAREER award, Lin develops high-performance materials for various carbon-capture technologies, such as pre- and post-combustion carbon dioxide capture and direct air capture. His work has garnered 23 grants for a total of $12 million, and he is funded by federal sources including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Department of the Interior.
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jun Qu, PhD, has redefined cutting-edge methodologies and advanced scientific knowledge impacting the way cancer, infection and heart disease are diagnosed and treated. His research focuses on the ever-evolving area of proteomics and bioanalysis, and his novel techniques yield highly sensitive and specific characterization of protein drugs and biomarkers in complex biological specimens. Pushing the limits of his field to enhance the speed and selectivity of research, Qu has published his findings—including an innovative tool capable of accurately measuring many proteins in large biological cohorts— in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Nature Protocols, among other publications. In recognition of his expertise, he has served on numerous international task forces addressing critical pharmaceutical and clinical issues.
Department of Neurosurgery
Professor and vice chair of neurosurgery, Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, studies neurosurgical interventions in intracranial aneurysms and stroke, including stent development and revascularization therapies. He has developed an internationally recognized clinical research program focused on endovascular neurosurgery and stroke treatment with a special investigative interest in advanced neuroimaging to identify brain viability following neurovascular accidents. Siddiqui is a co-investigator on a National Institutes of Health R01 grant to develop high-speed angiography for use in neurosurgery imaging. His expertise in both the microsurgical and endovascular management of complicated neurological disorders has established him as an international authority in his field. A fellow of the American Heart Association and the American College of Surgeons, he leads the multidisciplinary Canon Stroke and Vascular Research Center at UB.
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Junsong Yuan, PhD, is the Director of Visual Computing Lab at CSE. He is among the most prolific scholars in the fields of computer vision and multimedia. A fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a fellow of International Association of Pattern Recognition (IAPR), he has published 330 conference and journal articles. According to Google Scholar, Yuan's publications have received over 19,000 citations, and they have an h-index of 66. He has advised or co-advised over 35 PhD students and postdoctoral scholars.
Department of Neurology
Professor in the Department of Neurology, Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD, is an expert in MRI imaging and neurological disorders, particularly multiple sclerosis. He and his team have made impactful discoveries related to MS, including the crucial role of thalamic atrophy on cognitive impairment and other forms of disability, and imaging predictors for clinical progression of the disease. He is currently a principal investigator, co-PI or co-investigator on a dozen research grants totaling nearly $8 million, including the creation of a multicenter database registry for a novel study of brain volume changes using MRI and AI. Since 2017, he has served as Director of UB’s Center for Biomedical Imaging. Zivadinov is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and the European Academy of Neurology.
