School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Abceutics, Inc., a preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical startup founded in 2020 by Joseph Balthasar, PhD, and based at UB, was acquired by the global biopharmaceutical company Merck.

Sathy Balu-Iyer, PhD, was named a 2025 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, honoring his extensive contributions to drug development, including more than 50 patents and decades of research in protein therapeutics and immunotherapy.

Nicole Albanese, PharmD, assistant dean for Student Success and Engagement, provides leadership in the areas of recruiting and admissions, onboarding and academic advisement, registrar, career development and our new learning and engagement communities.

Nicholas Smith, PharmD, PhD, received a five-year, $3.6 million NIAID grant to develop phage therapies and study their distribution and effectiveness in treating infections.

Donald Mager, PharmD, PhD, was honored with the prestigious Lewis B. Sheiner Lecturer Award from the International Society of Pharmacometrics for career-long achievements and leadership in the field of pharmacometrics.

Arinze Okere, PharmD, MS, MBA, leads the Division of Outcomes and Practice Advancement, focusing on advancing health outcomes through implementation science, interdisciplinary collaboration and improving care for underserved populations.

Karl Williams, JD, MBA, BS '80, was appointed the inaugural director of legislative advocacy and will champion expanding the pharmacist scope of practice through reforms in ethics, law and regulation.

Christ Ange Cellino, PharmD/MBA '19, teaches in ambulatory care, engages in community and global health initiatives, and maintains an experiential training site and research program in ambulatory care pharmacy practice.

Yanan (Nancy) Zhao, MD, PhD, received a $4 million grant from NIH to create a novel antibiotic within the class called biamyxins (BMX) to combat the growing issue of antibiotic resistance.

Gene Morse, PharmD, and faculty investigators have visited Zimbabwe and South Africa to collaborate with research partners focused on developing drugs to combat HIV and tuberculosis, two major public health challenges in the region.

William Jusko, PhD, was honored in a special issue edition of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences for his long-term contributions to the advancement of pharmaceutical sciences and his work in the evolution of PK-PD modeling.

Sukyung Woo, PhD, was selected by the National Institutes of Health to serve as a member of its Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology C Study Section. She will contribute to the national biomedical research effort by reviewing cancer-related applications that are potentially useful in cancer therapy of solid tumors and leukemias.

Jun Qu, PhD, is leading a research group using UB's revolutionary new mass spectrometer, the Orbitrap Astral, that aims to accelerate the discovery of new drug targets and biomarkers.