Five UB researchers elected AAAS fellows

Five UB researchers have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

The honor is bestowed annually upon scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines — from research, teaching and technology, to administration in academia, industry and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public, according to AAAS.

The new UB fellows are Jason Briner, Hao Zeng, Jo Freudenheim, Keith Kirkwood and Jun Zhuang.

Jason Briner

“For distinguished contributions to the field of Arctic climate change, particularly for new applications of geochronology to glacier history and landscape evolution.”

Jason Briner, professor and associate chair of the Department of Earth Sciences, studies glaciers and lakes to better understand Earth’s past and future climate. He is co-lead of GreenDrill, a National Science Foundation-funded project that collected samples of bedrock from beneath the Greenland ice sheet in 2023. The team’s first study from those samples found that the Prudhoe Dome ice cap was completely gone approximately 7,000 years ago, much more recently than previously known. He is also the lead of the NSF-funded GHUB (Glaciology Hub). This online portal for ice sheet science houses datasets, computational tools and educational materials about the science of ice sheets and sea level rise, and has grown to more than 1,800 users.

Jo Freudenheim

“For distinguished contributions to the field of nutritional epidemiology, particularly for contributions relating to alcohol consumption and breast cancer epidemiology.”

Jo L. Freudenheim is a SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, who has received numerous honors for her decades of contributions to research on diet and cancer risk. Freudenheim was the overall chair of the working group that prepared a report for the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, outlining the impact of reduction and cessation of alcohol on cancer risk. With colleagues from the University of Puerto Rico, Freudenheim has been leading a long-term study of factors related to disparities in breast cancer among Puerto Rican women. She also leads the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) study, which examines exposures, including nutrition and alcohol, during the life course and breast cancer risk and survival.

Keith Kirkwood

“For distinguished contributions in the area of periodontal osteoimmunology, particularly for understanding innate immune signaling mechanisms and post-translational regulation of effector molecules as the basis of defining new therapeutic targets.”

Keith Kirkwood, senior associate dean for research and Centennial Endowed Chair in the Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, studies osteoimmunology, inflammatory diseases, oral cancer biology, microbiome science and aging. He focuses much of his research on aging-associated inflammation and bone homeostasis. He recently completed a research project with geriatric experts on how one protein slows down the aging process. In 2025, he received a $7.38 million grant from the NIH to fund creation of a new microbiome center at UB, which will enable scientists to conduct research in a germ-free environment. Over the course of his career, he has served as principal investigator or co-PI on numerous projects garnering more than $45 million in funding.

Hao Zeng

“For distinguished contributions to the field of magnetism and magnetic materials, particularly magnetic nanoparticles, magnetic nanocomposites, and 2D magnets and their applications in data storage, spintronics, and biomedicine.”

Hao Zeng, Moti Lal Rustgi Professor of Physics, has made pioneering contributions in the development of nanoscale magnetic materials. His experimental research combines physics and chemistry to produce nanomaterials for various applications, including in quantum computing, renewable energy and biomedicine. His research has included creating thin films made from barium zirconium sulfide that could be more efficient at converting sunlight into electricity than traditional silicon-based materials, and developing magnetic nanoparticles that could one day fry cancer cells. He has received a prestigious NSF CAREER award and is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials.

Jun Zhuang

“For distinguished contributions to game theory and its application to homeland security and military problems and for exceptional service to industrial and systems engineering.”

Jun Zhuang is the Morton C. Frank Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He also serves as the school’s associate dean for research and as editor-in-chief of the journal Decision Analysis. His work integrates operations research, big data analytics, game theory and decision analysis to help mitigate, prepare for, respond and recover during natural and human-caused disasters. He also explores how these fields can be applied to health care, sports, transportation, supply chain management, sustainability and architecture. Zhuang has been principal investigator for more than 40 research grants funded by the NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and others. He is a fellow of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers and the Society for Risk Analysis.