Scientific Leadership Committee

Dr. Diaz, director of the UBMC, is the Empire Innovation Professor of Oral Biology and the Sunstar Robert J. Genco Endowed Chair in UB’s School of Dental Medicine. As director of the UB Microbiome Center, Patricia Diaz develops partnerships and guides research projects focused on the effects of the microbiome on human health and disease. Diaz is a leader in the study of the human microbiome and aims to understand inter-species interactions in oral microbial communities that affect oral inflammation. She is committed to creating open research opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, ensuring equitable access to the field and fostering diversity in oral health research. Diaz earned her Doctor of Dental Science (DDS) from CES University in Colombia, her PhD from the University of Adelaide and her Master of Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also completed her residency in periodontology.  Dr. Diaz’s laboratory studies the ecology of oral microbiome communities and microbiome-host interactions in health and disease. The Diaz Lab employs an integrative methodology that encompasses clinical studies, animal models, high throughput assays and bioinformatics. Her work has significantly advanced understanding of the role of the microbiome in periodontal disease, defining microbial population shifts, and the manner in which interspecies interactions and the environment affect the outgrowth of pathobionts. Defining the role of the oral microbiome as a modifier of oral mucosal responses to chemotoxic injury is another area of interest.

Leonard E. Egede, MD, is a general internist and health services researcher, currently serving as Professor of Medicine, Charles and Mary Bauer Endowed Chair, and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He also leads UBMD Internal Medicine as its President and CEO, overseeing strategic direction and clinical excellence across the practice. Prior to joining UB, I held a transformative leadership role at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), beginning in 2017. As Division Chief of General Internal Medicine, I spearheaded a comprehensive restructuring of a division comprising seven sections, 192 employees, and a budget exceeding $40 million. Dr. Egede’s career is driven by a commitment to excellence in healthcare delivery, transformative research, inclusive education, and community engagement. He strives to build systems that empower faculty, trainees, and staff to lead change, improve lives, and shape the future of medicine.

Fatai Adewale Fehintola is currently Dean, Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. He served as Head (Chairman) of Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria between August 2019 and July 2023, and as Head of Clinical Pharmacology, University College Hospital, Ibadan between February 2016 and February 2019. a Physician-Pharmacologist, Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and marked his professorial inauguration with a lecture titled: “Good for Goose; Grave for Gander: Selective Toxicity in the Service of Man”. He is a Visiting Research Scientist to the Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences, State University at Buffalo, NY, USA. He has international research and training experience from Asia, and the United States of America and has published more than four scores of scholarly publications in peer review journals and chapters in textbooks. Fatai Fehintola has attended several significant international courses and conferences in Nigeria, Kenya, South-Africa, China, India, Spain, USA, etc. He has served (and continues to serve) on several academic, technical, and administrative positions/committees, for example, the Technical Expert Group of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC)-Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Project for the Review of Curriculum of Medical, Pharmacy and Nursing Schools on the Rational Use of Controlled Medicines, Consultant/National Trainer, Malaria Action Program for States (MAPS), A USAID-PMI (President Malaria Initiative) funded Malaria Control Program aimed at reducing the burden of malaria in Nigeria. He is involved in the training and administration of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Notable Research/Fellowship awards won include Fogarty International Center In-Country Advanced Research Grant [D43TW007995]; Inter-Science Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) Infectious Disease Fellowship, September 2009. His research focus is antimicrobial chemotherapy and determinants including drug interactions and pharmaco-epidemiology.

John Lindo also is a consultant parasitologist to the University Hospital of West Indies. Professor Lindo is co-chair of the SUNY-University of the West Indies Faculty Task Force for Health Research Development. His research has focused on the epidemiology of soil-transmitted helminths and emerging infectious diseases. This includes the epidemiology of strongyloides stercoralis infections and toxocariasis, the emergence of malaria and angiostrongylus cantonensis infections in Jamaica, epidemiology of free-living amoebae in Jamaica and opportunistic parasitic infections in persons living with HIV/AIDS.  

Charles Chiedza Maponga also holds a visiting faculty position with the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He travels frequently between UB and the University of Zimbabwe while coordinating the activities of an international collaborative program, the International Pharmacotherapy Education and Research Initiative. Professor Maponga is the University of Zimbabwe's principal investigator for the NIH Fogarty International Center HIV Research Training program. He works to implement a postgraduate and postdoctoral training initiative between the two universities with an emphasis on HIV clinical pharmacology. Professor Maponga is the CEO of Health Galaxy Park, a planned health care innovation and biomedical research center in Zimbabwe.

James Mohler earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia and completed residency training in Surgery and Urology at the University of Kentucky Medical Center and a research fellowship in Urologic Oncology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  Dr. Mohler is licensed by New York and North Carolina, a Diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Urology, and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He was Chair of the Roswell Park Department of Urology for 14 years.  Dr. Mohler is Chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines Panel for Prostate Cancer and Past-President of the Society for Basic Urologic Research (SBUR). He has received the Producers Award and the Rodger J. Winn Award from NCCN and a career achievement award from SBUR.

Paras Prasad also holds the Samuel P. Capen Chair at UB and is the executive director of the multidisciplinary Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics. He has published more than 700 scientific papers, co-edited six books and co-authored a monograph (with D.J. Williams) "Introduction to Nonlinear Optical Effects in Molecules and Polymers." Professor Prasad published "Introduction to Biophotonics," the first monograph in this field, which authoritatively defines the field, details its scope and identifies emerging opportunities. He also has published the monograph, "Nanophotonics" and "Introduction to Nanomedicine and Nanobioengineering."

Stanley Schwartz is working to develop unique therapies for treatment of metastatic prostate cancer and chronic viral infections involving the brain. The processes include  nanotechnology, as well as allergy and immunology, proteins, metalloenzymes and RNA.

Creator of the Charlotte’s Web strain of cannabis and a Co-founder of the Stanley Brothers Realm of Caring Foundation. ( http://theroc.us/ ) The Realm of Caring Foundation has earned the reputation as some of Colorado’s finest cultivators and cannabis breeders. The brothers have specialized in breeding high CBD strains of cannabis, including Charlotte’s Web. Josh owns the cultivation facilities which assist in further breeding projects. Josh has also been influential in helping the Colorado legislature in their efforts to regulate the new cannabis industry in Colorado. The Realm of Caring is a 501c3 non-profit organization that has formed to provide a better quality of life for residents of Colorado affected by Cancer, MS, HIV/AIDS, Epilepsy, Parkinson’s, among many other debilitating conditions through the use of their concentrated medicinal cannabis oil. All the Stanley’s were featured on National Geographic’s American Weed television show in 2012.

Andrew Talal conducts clinical and translational research in viral hepatitis and is a leading expert in liver disease. His work through UBMD has led to many improvement in treatment of patients with viral hepatitis and other forms of liver disease. We offer trial therapies to patients with liver disease if they meet the protocol criteria of our clinical trials. Our patient-care efforts include digital outreach: my colleagues and I co-authored an article for the inaugural issue of the patient-oriented online magazine “HCV Next.” Dr. Talal’s lab has received multi-year funding for its research programs in translational and clinical research. During the course of his translational research, members of the lab developed techniques for animal and human liver sampling that will enable sorting of liver cells in order to understand drug distribution in the liver during treatment and to develop ways to measure liver drug concentration. These translational research techniques will enable physicians to base drug dosing on the data gathered from the site of antiviral action in the liver instead of measuring the plasma concentration that is more reflective of systemic exposure. This may be an important breakthrough because of the fine line between drug efficacy and toxicity: the techniques will help physicians pinpoint the precise amount of drug needed for maximum benefit to the patient. In the area of clinical research, we are studying care models for viral hepatitis. We are conducting a study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation to assess telemedicine to treat hepatitis C (HCV) in patients who are in treatment for substance use. By creating processes that simplify testing and improve provider and patient awareness and by expanding recommendations for HCV screening, patients can receive more timely care and treatment.

Professor Admire Dube is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics School of Pharmacy, and University of the Western Cape (UWC) Deputy Dean of Learning and Teaching in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at in South Africa. His core focus spans nanoscience, nanomedicine, and targeted drug delivery systems to treat infectious diseases like tuberculosis. His research and academic is on Tuberculosis Nanotherapies, He leads an NIH-funded laboratory designing nanoparticles that deliver immunotherapy directly to the lungs to activate immune cells and eradicate TB bacteria UWC research group develops new way to treat TB. He teaches undergraduate Pharmaceutics and postgraduate Nanoscience Global Health. He was appointed to a four-year term on the World Health Organisation (WHO) Expert Advisory Panel on International Pharmacopoeia and Pharmaceutical Preparations.