University at Buffalo (UB)
BTC Clinical Research Achievement Awards
The annual Buffalo Translational Consortium (BTC) Clinical Research Achievement Awards, supported by the UB Clinical and Translational Science Institute, honor the outstanding accomplishments of clinical research in the Buffalo Niagara region.
This annual competition seeks to identify major advances resulting from the region’s investment in research to benefit the health and welfare of our community. The awards honor investigators from the University at Buffalo or Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center serving as principal author published or in press in a peer-reviewed journal during the calendar year of the competition.
Entries should exhibit innovation, creativity and scientific advancement in clinical research. They should contribute to the understanding of human disease and physiology, and demonstrate an impact on the understanding, prevention, diagnosis or treatment of disease.
Eligible submissions are those published or in press in a peer-reviewed journal during the calendar year of the competition. University at Buffalo or Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center investigators must serve as principal author, with research performed at a BTC institution.
Awardees will receive an invitation to present at the annual CTSI Forum held in March. The winners may also receive a travel stipend to the ACTS Translational Science meeting.
All nominees are encouraged to enter the Clinical Research Forum’s Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Awards.
2025 awardees David Jacobs, PharmD, PhD, and Ekaterina Noyes, PhD, MPH
Entries for the 2025 BTC Clinical Research Achievement Awards are due by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, October 31, 2025. Nomination packets in a single PDF format can be submitted to CTSI Senior Research Administrator Erin Carnes. Download nomination form and see eligibility criteria.
Member | Title | Institution |
Anne B. Curtis, MD (chair) | SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Medicine | Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship | School of Nursing | |
Associate Dean for Research | School of Public Health and Health Professions | |
| Marco Davila, MD, PhD | Senior Vice President and Associate Director for Translational Research | Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center |
Senior Associate Dean for Research | School of Dental Medicine | |
SUNY Distinguished Professor | Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences | |
Professor and Chair, Department of Neurology | Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
Top Award: David Jacobs, PharmD, PhD
Associate Professor, Division of Outcomes and Practice Advancement, Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
“Implementing a Community Health Worker Model to Address Health-related Social Needs in a Community Pharmacy Network: A Pragmatic Evaluation”
Finalist: Ekaterina Noyes, PhD, MPH
Associate Dean for Translational and Team Science, School of Public Health and Health Professions
“Trends in Industry Payments and Volume and Distribution of Robot-assisted Surgeries”
Top Award: Andrew Talal, MD, MPH, Professor, Department of Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Integrated Hepatitis C-Opioid Use Disorder Care Through Facilitated Telemedicine: A Randomized Trial”
Finalist: Stanley A. Schwartz, MD, PhD, UB Distinguished Professor, Medicine and Pediatrics, Division Chief, Allergy, Immunology & Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Omics Analysis Reveals Galectin-3 to Be a Potential Key Regulator of Allergic Inflammation in Hereditary Angioedema”
Finalist: Eunice S. Wang, MD, Professor of Oncology, Leukemia Clinical Disease Team Leader, Chief, Department of Medicine — Leukemia Assistant Member, Tumor Immunology Program, Department of Immunology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, “Ziftomenib in Relapsed or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (KOMET-001): A Multicentre, Open-label, Multi-cohort, Phase 1 Trial”
Top Award: Leonard H. Epstein, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Division Chief, Behavioral Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Family-based Behavioral Treatment for Childhood Obesity Implemented in Pediatric Primary Care”
Finalist: Robert Fenstermaker, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery and Oncology, Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, Director, Neuro-Oncology Program, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, “Phase IIa Study of SurVaxM Plus Adjuvant Temozolomide for Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma”
Finalist: Ram Samudrala, PhD, Professor and Chief, Division of Bioinformatics, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Multiscale Analysis and Validation of Effective Drug Combinations Targeting Driver KRAS Mutations in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer”
Top Award: Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “The Genetic Architecture of Pediatric Cardiomyopathy”
Finalist: Qianqian Zhu, PhD, Professor of Oncology, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, and Co-Director, Biostatistics and Statistical Genomics Resource, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, “UACA Locus Is Associated With Breast Cancer Chemoresistance and Survival”
Top Award: Liise K. Kayler, MD, Program Director Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, Chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Hardest-to-place Kidney Transplant Outcomes in the United States”
Finalist: Brian Clemency, DO, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Efficacy of Inhaled Ciclesonide for Outpatient Treatment of Adolescents and Adults With Symptomatic COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial”
Finalist: Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, A. Conger Goodyear Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Late Health Outcomes After Dexrazoxane Treatment: A Report From the Children’s Oncology Group”
Top Award: Teresa Quattrin, MD, UB Distinguished Professor, Senior Associate Dean for Research Integration, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and CTSI Special Populations Core Director, “Golimumab and Beta-Cell Function in Youth With New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes”
Finalist: Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, A. Conger Goodyear Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction in HIV-Uninfected Infants Exposed in Utero to Antiretroviral Therapy”
Finalist: Gil I. Wolfe, MD, FAAN, Professor and Chair, Irvin and Rosemary Smith Chair of Neurology, Department of Neurology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Minimal Manifestation Status and Prednisone Withdrawal in the MGTX Trial”
Top Award: John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Early Subthreshold Aerobic Exercise for Sport-Related Concussion: A Randomized Clinical Trial”
Finalist: Dhyan Chandra, PhD, associate professor of oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, “Cytochrome c Deficiency Confers Apoptosome and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in African-American Men with Prostate Cancer”
Finalist: Brian Clemency, DO, associate professor of emergency medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Hospital Observation Upon Reversal (HOUR) With Naloxone: A Prospective Clinical Prediction Rule Validation Study”
Top Award: Jeffrey M. Lackner, PsyD, professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, "Improvement in Gastrointestinal Symptoms After Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Refractory Irritable Bowel Syndrome"
Finalist: Michael J. LaMonte, PhD, MPH, associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health in UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions, "Physical Activity and Incidence of Heart Failure in Postmenopausal Women"
Finalist: Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, "Efficacy and Safety of Dapaglifloxin in Patients with Inadequately Controlled Type 1 Diabetes: The DEPICT-1 52-week Study"
Top Award: Andrew Talal, MD, MPH, professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Hepatic Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics With Ombitasvir/Paritaprevir/Ritonavir Plus Dasabuvir Treatment and Variable Ribavirin Dosage”
Finalist: Robert G. Rychtarik, PhD, senior research scientist in UB’s Research Institute on Addictions, “Randomized clinical trial of matching client alcohol use disorder severity and level of cognitive functioning to treatment setting: A partial replication and extension”
Related links:
Top Award: Gil I. Wolfe, MD, professor and chair, Department of Neurology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “Randomized Trial of Thymectomy in Myasthenia Gravis”
Finalist: Sebastian G. Ciancio, DDS, Distinguished Service Professor and chair, Department of Periodontics and Endodontics, School of Dental Medicine, “Comparison of 3 intranasal mists for anesthetizing maxillary teeth in adults: A randomized, double-masked, multicenter phase 3 clinical trial”
Finalist: Rina Das Eiden, PhD, senior research scientist, Research Institute on Addictions, “Developmental cascade model for adolescent substance use from infancy to late adolescence”
Finalist: Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and director of UB’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, “Effect of Fluoroquinolones and Macrolides on Eradication and Resistance of Haemophilus influenzae in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease”