Integrating Research, Education and Outreach

Redefining "human"
10/17/18
GEM is advancing genome science through cutting-edge pilot research projects. Researchers partner across disciplines to investigate connections between the airway microbiome and cancer, probiotics and obesity treatments, and much more.
Educating for big data challenges
7/18/18
Genomic themes are integrated across the curriculum at UB, offering students the chance to explore the "big" questions that relate to data, genomics and the microbiome.
Engaging next generations
7/18/18
GEM partners with K-12 teachers and schools throughout the region to embed genomic and microbiomic literacy in the curriciulum through hands-on activities in classrooms, on-campus lab visits, and special events.
Empowering the public
7/18/18
GEM community outreach provides opportunities for the public to engage in genomic and microbiomic exploration, empowering people with tools to better understand personal health issues. Pictured: 'Balancing Act' installation at the Buffalo Museum of Science
Fusing art and biology
7/18/18
The Coalesce Center for Biological Art provides a dedicated studio laboratory for biological art, graduate positions, interdisciplinary coursework, artist residency opportunities, DIY workshops and exhibitions. Pictured: SOIL, by Nicole Clouston

About GEM

Our Leadership
10/17/18
Executive Director Tim Murphy, Co-directors Norma Nowak and Jennifer Surtees, and the GEM Advisory Committee guide the community.
Learn more about our leadership team
Our Challenge
10/17/18
Advancing understanding of the genome, the microbiome and their interaction with the environment, and using this knowledge to benefit humanity in a just, broad-based and responsible manner is a grand challenge of our time.
See how we make a difference
What We Do
10/17/18
GEM wants you to know more about genomes so you can make better health decisions. This shifting and personalizing of medicine comes through research, education and community outreach.
Learn more about our vision

UB scientist receives federal grant for ‘Jewels in Our Genes’ follow-up study
6/28/19
During the “Jewels in Our Genes” study several years ago, Heather Ochs-Balcom and her team pinpointed four locations in the genome of African American women that may contain undiscovered genes that contribute to hereditary breast cancer.
Coalesce receives NEA grant to enhance artist residency program
5/30/19
UB’s Coalesce: Center for Biological Art has received an Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to enhance the center’s BioArt in the Public Sphere program.
UB faculty member’s ‘must-smell’ exhibition opening at BPAC
1/9/19
What does labor smell like?
In hands-on lab, undergrads learn basics of CRISPR gene-editing technique
11/27/18
Students are using CRISPR to alter yeast genes in a course on genetics at UB that also asks them to consider the technology’s potential societal implications.
Gene mutation found to cause macrocephaly and intellectual deficits
11/12/18
The absence of one copy of a single gene in the brain causes a rare, as-yet-unnamed neurological disorder, according to new research.