Research

Research.

At the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, our dynamic research spans drug interaction, from discovery to development to clinical application. We are leading developments in precision pharmacotherapy, resulting in improved patient outcomes and development of future public policy initiatives.

Our world-renowned researchers challenge scientific boundaries and define the future of pharmaceutical research and drug therapy management. Our highly competitive National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant support gives us a powerful foundation that facilitates groundbreaking discoveries and solutions to critical health challenges.

In addition to the Pharmacy Building, the campus boasts an extensive network of clinical and research affiliations, with a variety of local, regional, national and international sites, including Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Nobel Prize-winning Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, the National Institutes of Health, the ACTG AIDS Clinical Trials Group, and the University of Zimbabwe, Harare.

Top Funded Faculty

David Jacobs.
David Jacobs, PharmD, PhD
12/22/23

Current Funding: $1 million
Research Focus: Pharmaceutical health services, pharmacoepidemiology,  implementation science

Joseph Balthasar, PhD, David and Jane Chu Endowed Chair in Drug Discovery and Development
4/3/24

Current Funding: $17.1 million
Research Focus: Mathematical modeling, antibody-drug conjugates

Brian Tsuji, PharmD, professor and associate dean
10/6/23

Current Funding: $7.7 million
Research Focus: Clinical and translational approaches to combat antimicrobial resistance

Kathleen Tornatore, PharmD, professor
6/27/23

Current Funding: $3.5 million
Research Focus: Clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of immunosuppressive regimens in renal transplantation

Donald Mager, PharmD, PhD, professor and chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
2/12/24

Current Funding: $1.5 million
Research Focus: Systems pharmacology, quantitative structure-pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamic relationships

Gene Morse, PharmD, SUNY Distinguished Professor
4/3/24

Current Funding: $19.3 million
Research Focus: Drug development, HIV/AIDS

Youngjae You, PhD, professor of Empire Innovation
9/7/23

Current Funding: $3.4 million
Research Focus: Antibody-drug conjugates, cancer chemotherapy, drug delivery, medicinal chemistry, targeted drug delivery

Jun Qu, PhD, professor
4/3/24

Current Funding: $2.4 million
Research Focus: Protein biotherapeutics and clinical/pharmaceutical proteomics

Sukyung Woo, PhD, associate professor
4/3/24

Current Funding: $2.7 million
Research Focus: Anticancer drug development, cancer pharmacology, ovarian cancer, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics

Jason Sprowl, PhD, assistant professor
3/7/24

Current Funding: $3.5 million
Research Focus: Cancer chemotherapy, drug delivery, drug targeting

William Jusko, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor
6/27/23

Current Funding: $3.4 million
Research Focus: Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

Qing Ma, PharmD, PhD, associate professor
1/4/24

Current Funding: $4.4 million
Research Focus: Pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, antiretroviral therapy

Robert Bies, PharmD, PhD, professor
4/3/24

Current Funding: $4.2 million
Research Focus: Pharmacometrics in psychiatry, oncology, neurology and cardiovascular disease

Sathy Balu-Iyer, PhD, professor
7/12/23

Current Funding: $3.5 million
Research Focus: Protein delivery and immunotherapy

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Current Funded Research

Research News

  • Sprowl receives $750,000 NSF CAREER Award
    4/2/24
    Jason Sprowl, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, is the recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award, the foundation’s most prestigious honor for early-career faculty. He is the only non-engineering faculty member to receive this in 2024 at UB.
  • Visiting physician to UB’s CIGBS examining clinical pharmacology intersection of HIV drugs, antidepressants
    2/2/24

    Waheed Adedeji will soon launch a clinical trial in Nigeria, exploring the pharmacokinetic interaction between the antidepressant fluoxetine and the antiviral drug Dolutegravir, which fights HIV. 

  • Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Special Issue Edition Dedicated to Professor William Jusko
    1/12/24
    A special edition of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences was recently dedicated to William Jusko, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor, pharmaceutical sciences. The edition honors and recognizes his long-term contributions to the advancement of the pharmaceutical sciences, including his work in the evolution of PK-PD modeling, and his 40-year leadership of significant advances in theoretical and applied pharmacometrics. These advances have provided a foundational framework for the study and understanding of drug exposure-response relationships.
  • UB announces new effort to enhance and expand aging-related research
    12/1/23

    To address the increasingly urgent needs of the growing population of adults aged 65 years and older, UB will dedicate $4 million to aging-related research. 

  • Team Alice, UB’s study of medication harm in older adults, receives $1.95 million national grant
    11/15/23

    Funding to support interdisciplinary research into older patients’ journey throughout health care system

Key Research Strengths

PK/PD, Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology

Collectively, our research in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), pharmacometrics, and systems pharmacology is having a critical impact on important decision making in drug discovery, development, and clinical utilization and is being used to guide the design of new potential drugs, provide a scientific rationale for new drug combinations, minimize adverse drug reactions, and individualize pharmacotherapy.

Faculty Leader: Donald Mager, PharmD, PhD

Pharmacogenetics, Genomics, Drug Metabolism and Drug Transport

We employ a unique multi-disciplinary approach to these areas of research which study individuals response to particular drugs based on their genomic profile, allowing for the evaluation of genetic variables affecting a person’s response to that particular drug. These approaches combine pharmacology and genomics, providing the key foundational principles of precision medicine.

Faculty Leader: Murali Ramanathan, PhD

Protein Therapeutics

We are conducting cutting-edge research that tests hypotheses relating to the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) of protein drugs, and also relating to the development of new methods for the prediction and characterization of protein PK/PD.

Faculty Leader: Joseph Balthasar, PhD

Drug Delivery

Our research is transformative in the development of drug delivery systems for the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents. With a focus on the on the development of protein therapeutic delivery systems as a bio-therapeutic pathways, this research will expand options in the delivery of multiple therapeutic agents and approaches to gene therapy.

Faculty Leader: Sathy Balu-Iyer, PhD

Pharmaceutical Health Services and Outcomes Research

We focus on the intersection of pharmaceutical health services and outcomes research, pharmacoepidemiology, comparative effectiveness research and implementation science. Our faculty investigate the impact and outcomes of pharmaceutical products and services while advancing the knowledge about the effectiveness and safety of medicines as well as pharmacy’s role in improving population health. Our approach emphasizes interdisciplinary and collaborative research strategies encompassing both observational and interventional methods across a variety of therapeutic areas.

Faculty Leader: David Jacobs, PharmD, PhD

Clinical and Translational Research

We are accelerating the delivery of basic scientific discoveries from the laboratory to clinical trials, and from clinical trials into general practice.  Our faculty are conducting extensive research in preclinical and early clinical development for novel compounds for investigators.

Faculty Leader: Brian Tsuji, PharmD