Campus News By SUE WUETCHER

The late Ralph Wilson Jr., founder and 54-year owner of the Buffalo Bills, will be honored with the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal, UBs highest award, during the universitys168th general commencement on May 18.

Nancy H. Nielsen, senior associate dean for health policy, UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Robert Gioia, president of The John R. Oishei Foundation and chair of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation, will receive the UB Presidents Medal in recognition of extraordinary service to the university.

Also during the ceremony, SUNY honorary doctorates will be presented to UB alumnus Ira Flatow, host of Public Radio Internationals Science Friday; Jack Lightstone, president and vice chancellor of Brock University in St. Catharines; and UB alumnus Norman McCombs, recipient of the 2013 National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

The Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal is presented annually in public recognition of a person who has, in Nortons words, performed some great thing which is identified with Buffalo a great civic or political act, a great book, a great work of art, a great scientific achievement or any other thing which, in itself, is truly great and ennobling, and which dignifies the performer and Buffalo in the eyes of the world.

Throughout his distinguished career, Ralph Wilson Jr. had a profound impact regionally and nationally. A founding member of the American Football League, he established the Buffalo Bills franchise in 1959, the only team to remain in its originating city. Recognized by The Buffalo News as the regions top sports figure of the 20th century, Wilson was inducted in 2009 into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the highest honor in the NFL.

A pioneering proponent of youth football nationally, he was a vital supporter of numerous community organizations, including the food banks of Buffalo and Rochester, the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, Sheas Performing Arts Center, and the Buffalo Zoo. With his wife, Mary, he was a leading supporter of many regional health institutions, including the Hospice Foundation of Western New York, the Cancer Wellness Center, Hunters Hope and the Kaleida Health Foundation.

Through the Ralph Wilson Medical Research Foundation and the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation, he provided significant support to Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic, and established the Buffalo Bills Team Physicians Fund to support UBs Department of Sports Medicine. Wilson also established major scholarship programs at Canisius College, SUNY Fredonia, St. John Fisher College and the University of Virginia.

A World War II Navy veteran who served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, Wilson has been awarded numerous national and regional honors for his philanthropy, patriotism, and civic and sports leadership, including the NFL Alumni Order of the Leather Helmet, the National World War II Museums American Spirit Award and the Sovereign Grand Commanders Medal of Honor by the Masons. Wilson passed away in March at the age of 95.

The UB Presidents Medal, first presented in 1990, recognizes outstanding scholarly or artistic achievements, humanitarian acts, contributions of time or treasure, exemplary leadership or any other major contribution to the development of the University at Buffalo and the quality of life in the UB community.

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Wilson to receive Norton medal at UB commencement

As a graduate student at Harvard Medical School in the 1990s, Robert Means had his name on 18 publications. Currently, Means is a professor of pathology at the Yale School of Medicine, as well as director of graduate admissions for the microbiology program.

He has spent two decades in science. Now, Means said, he is leaving not only Yale, but science altogether.

At the end of June, Means contract with Yale will be up, largely because he was unable to bring in additional sources of funding to run his lab.

Ive still got projects going on that every day get me excited about science, but the rest of it the managerial side of applying for grants that basically means life or death for your career I have become so sullied by, he said. Im going in a different direction because it doesnt feel like, in this climate, that I can be intellectually free and still make a viable career out of it.

What happened to Means at Yale is symptomatic of a national crisis in science funding, he said, particularly in biomedical research.

The National Institute of Health doubled its budget between 1998 and 2003, wrote graduate school dean Thomas Pollard in an article for Cell, leaving funding for biomedical research seeming relatively secure. But a combination of inflation since 2003 and a 5 percent cut in all NIH grant funding during the budget sequester of 2013 has left the current outlook for funding in the United States grim.

Yale has mechanisms in place to help support faculty struggling to secure research, but the Universitys funds alone cannot insulate its researchers from the present climate. Government funding remains science researchers primary source of support, and those who lack it may find their labs in jeopardy.

Increasingly, researchers are looking for supplementary financial support from private foundations and corporate sponsors, many of which will underwrite research that investigates a specific disease or drug. Yet some worry this shift will leave basic science research, traditionally underwritten by public sources, by the wayside.

For all its impact on researchers, the greatest casualty of the funding climate may be the next generation of scientists.

I feel that if we really want to keep an edge on creativity, we need to make it easier for people to enter the system and fund it at a greater level than we are right now, said genetics professor Arthur Horwich. Were scaring people away.

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UP CLOSE | Researchers navigate funding tempest

GAINESVILLE - The Brenau University School of Nursing has been educating new nurses for a half century, and the school wraps up its 50th anniversary celebration at a special event on Thursday, April 24.

Originally known as the Hall County School of Nursing, the school graduated its first class in 1963.

The celebration of the 50th anniversary is set for 5 p.m. on Thursday, at Brenau Universitys East Campus at the Featherbone Communiversity. At 5:45 p.m. alumni of the school of nursing will be recognized, as will be the schools first five doctoral students. There will also be a special presentation honoring one of the schools key benefactors, Anne Thomas of Gainesville. Tours of the school of nursing will follow the presentations.

At first, the School of Nursing offered a non-collegiate diploma of nursing, said Dr. Sandra Greniewicki, interim director of the School of Nursing. Although Brenau did not officially take over the school until 1978, Brenau partnered with the school to offer some of the academic courses required for the diploma.

Ten students were part of that first class of nurses. About 80 undergraduate nurses are expected to graduate this year.

Today the Brenau School of Nursing is a diverse, state-of-the-art program designed to prepare students to provide health care that is "sensitive to the unique health needs of individuals, families and communities."

The program, which comprises both online and classroom instruction, includes an undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing and graduate programs for Family Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Educator and Nurse Leader Manager. The school also has a popular RN-to-BSN program for nurses with two-year degrees to earn a four-year undergraduate diploma. Since 2010, the university has offered a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.

Todays modern program is a far cry from what the students in the first class in 1963 experienced.

From 1960 to 1978 the Hall School of Nursing was completely owned and operated as a part of Hall County Hospital (now Northeast Georgia Medical Center), which had total control over the nursing program, including its rules and regulations on student behavior and expectations.

It was believed that nursing was a full-time endeavor and a dedicated calling that occupied all of the students time and effort, said Greniewicki. During this period, the rules were modified, but nursing education continued to expect full dedication from its students.

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Brenau nursing school celebrating 50th anniversary

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FOR APRIL 25-27, 2014

U.S. Medical Soccer Team Itinerary for Washington, D.C.

Advocacy on Capitol Hill/Practices/DC Boys & Girls Club Fitness Clinic

WHAT: The U.S. Medical Soccer Team (USMST) is an organization of physicians from around the country who share a passion for soccer, medical education and community outreach. They represent the United States at the World Medical Football Championships ("Physicians' World Cup"), which is an annual tournament of similar physician teams from around the world. The USMST also participates in the Global Congress on Medicine and Health in Sport, which is a medical conference bringing together an international cohort of physician soccer players and occurs in parallel with the Championships. This year's tournament and Congress will be held in Natal, Brazil, from July 5-12, 2014.

In preparation for the tournament, the coach and players of the USMST get together three times annually for weekend training sessions at locations around the country. This April 25-27, they will be in Washington, D.C.

During their weekend, they will be doing a community outreach event at the Washington, D.C. Boys and Girls Club on Friday, April 25th from 4 6 p.m. These are fun events tailored towards children age 6-12 years of age that focus on fitness, nutrition and education. USMST has developed a formal program entitled "Healthy, Fit and Smart" that they use to educate and motivate youth towards active lifestyles, a healthy diet and careers in the health profession.

Coach and team bios, schedules, competitors, etc. are detailed at: http://www.usmedicalsoccerteam.org/

WHEN/WHERE:

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U.S. Medical Soccer Team - Itinerary for Washington, D.C.

SALEM - Dr. Randy L. Hanzlick, a physician who has been the chief medical examiner in Fulton County, Georgia since 1998, is this year's Salem High School Alumni Association Honored Alumnus.

Hanzlick has received numerous professional awards for his national efforts to improve forensic pathology practices and death investigation systems based on his work as the medical examiner for the county the covers the Atlanta metropolitan area, for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and at Emory University. Both the CDC and Emory are in Atlanta.

On Saturday, May 24, Hanzlick will be the featured speaker at the 133rd Annual Reunion and Banquet of the Salem High School Alumni Association in the cafeteria at Salem High School (SHS) cafeteria.

Nearly 100 of new SHS graduates and alumni will receive scholarships during the banquet that begins at 6 p.m., the night before Salem's commencement ceremony.

Tickets for the banquet are $20 and must be purchased in advance at the alumni association office at 330 East State Street by May 16. The office is open from 9 a.m. to noon weekdays. The association's phone number is 330-332-1427.

Hanzlick graduated from Salem High School in 1970 and earned his bachelor's degree and then medical degree from The Ohio State University.

He credits Walter "Bing" Newton, his Salem Junior High School science teacher, with instigating his interest in science and medicine. His family's former Salem physicians-Drs. Vernon Ziegler and William Hoprich-also encouraged him to pursue a career in medicine. And Dr. William A. Kolozsi, who served as Columbiana County's coroner for many years, provided positive feedback about his career choice during Hanzlick's pathology residency.

At OSU Hanzlick was mentored by Nobuhisa "Nobi" Baba, a forensic pathology professor who introduced him to the potential for forensic pathology-the study of death-to benefit the living with insights that improve public safety and health. "It is the forensic pathologist's job to find out how and why a person died, and to document information that can be used to answer questions and to address legal issues that may arise. For example, if one person is killed by another, our information may be used in the criminal court to bring justice," Hanzlick explained.

Throughout his career Hanzlick has been involved in efforts to improve medicolegal death investigation systems, the guidelines and standards of forensic pathology practices, and the education of forensic pathologists. He currently directs the forensic pathology fellowship training program at the Emory School of Medicine and serves as vice chairman of the Scientific Working Group for Medicolegal Death Investigation, a national working group.

The most important of his numerous collaborations with the CDC may be the development of national guidelines for the investigation of sudden, unexplained infant deaths. Hanzlick hopes that more thorough investigation of these deaths will provide information that can help prevent more tragedies. He has written extensively on this topic and other forensic pathology issues, as well as authoring several textbooks, numerous chapters, and hundreds of scientific journal articles.

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Alumni Association will honor Dr. Hanzlick

1988 UR Medical School Class Play: 2nd Year of Horrors!

By: Tom Wynne

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1988 UR Medical School Class Play: 2nd Year of Horrors! - Video

1988 UR Medical School Class Play: Family Docs

By: Tom Wynne

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1988 UR Medical School Class Play: Family Docs - Video

1988 UR Medical School Class Play: MDL Club

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1988 UR Medical School Class Play: MDL Club - Video

Dr. Robert D'Esposito (center) enjoying a collegial moment with colleagues Dr. Michael Ferragamo and Dr. Anthony Bruno. The Nassau County Medical Society will be honoring Dr. Robert F. D'Esposito for his service as president of the society. He will be the 2014 Honoree at the Society's Medallion Ball being held on April 6. He is a long time resident of Garden City and a former medical director of the Garden City School District.

Dr. D'Esposito's career in medicine began nearly forty years ago with an internship at Nassau Hospital, now known as Winthrop University Hospital. Robert (aka Bobby D) not only continued his practice at Winthrop but extended his experience expertise and caring to support his peers in the medical community and in the education of medical students and the local school community. His hospital appointments also include North Shore.

Dr. D'Esposito was born in Brooklyn New York and was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph at Queen of All Saints. His family then moved to Plainedge in 1956, where as a teen he participated in football, wrestling and baseball.

Hofstra University provided the backdrop for achieving his pre-medical Bachelor of Arts in Biology Degree. He proudly earned his medical degree from The University of Padova, Italy in 1971. He became an attending physician in 1977 following residencies with the Departments of General Surgery and Urology at Winthrop and Bellevue Hospital, in NYC.

In addition he is a Clinical Associate Professor at Stony Brook Medical School, teaching third year medical students in their clinical rotation in Urology at Winthrop University Hospital.

Extensive medical community involvement is demonstrated by his past and present affiliations with a variety of organizations. This includes his prior service as Chairman of the Winthrop Laser Safety Committee as well as his service on the Surgical Review and Quality Assurance Committees. He continued to serve his peers as Vice President (1990-94) and President (1994-97) of the Medical Staff Organization.

Dr. D'Esposito is a Fellow of The American College Of Surgeons, The New York Academy of Medicine and The Nassau Academy of Medicine, where he sits on the Board as Secretary. He is the past President and past Governor of The American College of Surgeons where he has been active in the Brooklyn and Long Island Chapters. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors and past Chairman of Scientific and Continuing Education of the American College of Surgeons.

He is also a member of various societies including The American Fertility Society, The American Urology Association and The Society of Clinical Urologists. He serves as Chief Surgeon of the Fraternal Order of Police, New York Surgeons Lodge # 3.

Active in community service, Dr D'Esposito was Medical Director for the Garden City School District from 1977 through 2009. He has been active in lecturing, research studies and publishing.

In 2007, Winthrop awarded Dr. D'Esposito, The Medical Staff Lifetime Achievement Award. In October 2009, he was also honored by Hofstra University for his continued involvement with Hofstra University Alumni. He also received the Physicians Award for Healthcare Heroes in 2009.

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Medical Society honors Dr. Robert D'Esposito