2023 State of the School Address
Presented by Allison Brashear, MD, MBA
Vice President for Health Sciences
Dean, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Greetings friends and colleagues!
As we reflect on another successful year at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, I am proud to say that we remain at the forefront of improving the health of Western New York.
At my second annual State of the School Address this fall, attended by our faculty, staff, students, donors, alumni and our clinical and community partners, I had the opportunity to highlight many accomplishments from the past year.
I am thrilled to see the Jacobs School growing significantly as we welcome new researchers and prepare a new generation of clinicians. In collaboration with our health care partners, we can leverage our unique strengths and expertise to make a profound impact on the health and well-being of society.
As you can see from this report, we are committed to strengthening the health of our community by bringing together the four pillars of our strategic plan: education, research excellence, clinical care, and diversity and community engagement.
I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the Jacobs School, our trainees, educators, scientists, clinicians, patients, and our community at large.
Sincerely,
Allison Brashear, MD, MBA Vice President for Health Sciences Dean, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Education Overview
A Powerhouse for Training Doctors
As a leading medical school in New York State, the Jacobs School has been consistently recognized for producing high-quality doctors and researchers who are committed to serving the people of Western New York and creating a healthier society.
As a flagship in the SUNY system, UB is a popular destination for New York residents seeking a medical degree, with over 80% of graduates choosing to stay in the state to practice medicine after graduation. This is a testament to the quality of a Jacobs School education and its commitment to serving the needs of the state.
Committed to Growing the Health Care Workforce in New York
New York State graduates more medical students each year than any other state, and SUNY’s medical schools alone produce more graduates each year than any other state. The school plays a central role in this training, and its graduates are more likely to stay in Buffalo to practice medicine than their peers across the state. In fact, the proportion of UB graduates staying in Erie County has been consistently higher than their peers over the past 10 years.
The goal is to see students come to Buffalo, train here, and stay here.
“We want our trainees to live and work in our city, which will contribute to the economic development of Western New York.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Degrees Awarded
2022-2023
172
MEDICAL STUDENTS
226 BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES BACCALAUREATE STUDENTS
70 MASTER’S STUDENTS
18 PHD STUDENTS
Graduate Education
850+ RESIDENTS AND FELLOWS
47
MEDICAL STUDENTS REMAINED IN BUFFALO FOR ADVANCED TRAINING RANKED THE 58TH LARGEST OF ACGME-SPONSORING INSTITUTIONS IN THE U.S
111 PROGRAMS WITH 70 OF THEM BEING ACGME-ACCREDITED
Admissions
2022-2023
Medical School Class of 2027
24% attended UB for undergraduate studies
47% are from Western New York
90% are from New York State
Undergrad
4TH
LARGEST UB INCOMING FRESHMEN CLASS
5TH
LARGEST UNDERGRADUATE CLASS AT UB
Redesigned Curriculum Goes into Effect in 2024
The culmination of the Jacobs School’s major curriculum revision efforts will occur in July 2024 with the inauguration of the new Well Beyond curriculum.
The bedrock of the new curriculum will be the integration of five core pillars:
• foundational sciences
• clinical sciences
• health systems science
• medical humanities
• scientific literacy and inquiry
We’re Hiring
The Jacobs School is in the midst of a historic faculty hiring initiative with a record number of new faculty members hired since the summer of 2022 — contributing to the University at Buffalo’s largest cohort of faculty hires since the 1970s.
Among these new hires include:
13
NEW JACOBS SCHOOL FACULTY WHO BRING WITH THEM OVER $14 MILLION OF NEW NIH FUNDING
94 CLINICAL FACULTY
16 ADDITIONAL RESEARCH FACULTY
120+ NEW FACULTY IN TOTAL SINCE JULY 1, 2022
Research Overview
School Drives Research Engines of UB
The Jacobs School has a long tradition of conducting original and rigorous biomedical and clinical research that is highly innovative and impactful. Discovery and translational investigations are critical to advancing the scientific mission. The school’s research and clinical trials provide multiple benefits to the community — by impacting the health of the community and by creating jobs that positively affect the economic health of the region. Such research efforts lead to more new labs and serve as an economic engine for the Western New York economy.
49%
32% 19%
32% JACOBS SCHOOL
UB’s thinkers, researchers, creators and community are driving change, with the Jacobs School playing a vital role. The Jacobs School accounted for 32% of UB’s research expenditures in fiscal year 2023, and this total rises to 51% when collaborative health science schools are included.
19% COLLABORATIVE HEALTH SCIENCE SCHOOLS
49% OTHER UB SCHOOLS
Halterman Tabbed to Lead Jacobs School Research Efforts
Marc Halterman, MD, PhD, was recently hired as senior associate dean and executive director for the school’s Office of Research. He has been tasked with creating an ‘easy’ button for researchers so they can focus on the science, find new opportunities, and most importantly, bring people together so they can identify and implement new and innovative projects.
“Dr. Halterman is an NIH-funded physician-scientist who previously served as chair of the Department of Neurology at Stony Brook University and as co-director of its Neurosciences Institute.”
Practicing (and Perfecting) Team Science
The Jacobs School is a leader in interprofessional education, which spans across UB to set the stage for how health sciences disciplines interact and collaborate. This is what team science is all about.
Buffalo’s aging community will benefit from the expertise of UB researchers thanks to a new $4 million UB investment to boost seed funding for age-related interdisciplinary research and projects, and to hire nationally and internationally recognized faculty and research in this field.
“We are the research engines of UB. We are making a significant difference in UB’s research enterprise so that as we grow, UB will grow.”
Our basic scientists and their PhD trainees are making a major impact with publications and setting the stage for future clinical trials.
As the school recruits the next generations of researchers, it will have the tools to succeed. Two recent additions were the cutting-edge Philips MR 7700 3-Tesla MRI scanner in the CTSI Translational Imaging Center, and the confocal microscope and flow in the John R. Oishei Suite.
Research highlights:
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
School of Dental Medicine
School of Public Health and Health Professions
School of Nursing
School of Social Work
$74M IN AWARDS WITH 177 NEW GRANTS 755 PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS 7 INVESTIGATORS RECEIVED AWARDS GREATER THAN $3 MILLION EACH 300+ ACTIVE CLINICAL STUDIES
Clinical Overview
Strengthening Clinical Partnerships
The practice of medicine and effective medical education both require teamwork.
As the Jacobs School continues to improve its education, it is strengthening its relationships with its clinical partners—Kaleida Health, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Erie County Medical Center, Catholic Health, and the VA Western New York Healthcare System.
These critical partnerships are essential to ensure health care is delivered with a patient-centered focus. Home is the best place for patients, most of the time, but when patient’s need it, Western New York’s exceptional hospital partners provide outstanding care.
“We cannot take care of our patients, specifically the sickest patients, without our hospital partners. We cannot train our medical students and more than 800 residents without our amazing hospital partners. Our hospital partners are central to our mission.”
UBMD Physicians’ Group is the largest multispecialty group in Western New York
Western New York’s first Long COVID Recovery Center is now open and staffed by UBMD internal medicine physicians. Funded by a grant from the Cabrini Health Foundation, with additional support from UB, the center will offer clinical trials to patients enrolled in its registry.
UBMD Primary Care, a newly created entity, will unite family medicine and internal medicine providers under one umbrella at the Conventus Medical Office Building, creating a one-stop shop for primary care with increasing patient access, and continuity of care. This will also foster collaboration among our talented physicians and attract more primary care doctors to the community.
61 OFFICES
92 SPECIALTIES/SUBSPECIALTIES
490,000+ UNIQUE PATIENTS ANNUALLY
850,000+ PATIENT VISITS
96 PERCENT OF PATIENTS FROM BUFFALO SEEK CARE LOCALLY
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Overview
Opening its Doors to the Community
Community engagement is at the heart of the Jacobs School’s mission as identified in its strategic plan. It is integral to building strong academic partnerships, fostering trust, and equipping the community with the resources they need to succeed.
The school has hosted events like the drone STEM program and a high school open house, which welcomed students into the medical school building’s laboratories. These events are just a few examples of how the Jacobs School is opening its doors to the community and preparing for the future.
One of the school’s primary missions is to increase the diversity of both the student body and the faculty. This is essential to creating a pathway for the future of medicine.
It is important that our community leaders see us as a partner. Health care is part of the community; the Jacobs School is more than just a building with students, it is a gateway to support and grow community partnerships and to improve the health of our region.
“One of the things we want to do is bring in more students from diverse backgrounds, but we also want to bring in more faculty so that we can create that continuous pathway to make sure we are prepared for the future.”
Advancing Gender Diversity
The Jacobs School continues to advance gender diversity and celebrate powerful women in medicine.
31% FEMALE FACULTY
59.8% FEMALE UNDERGRADS
44.4% FEMALE RESIDENTS/FELLOWS
61% FEMALE FIRST-YEAR MEDICAL
61.2% FEMALE GRADUATE STUDENTS
There is also an increased number of women in leadership roles at the Jacobs School with two permanent female department chairs - Sarah Berga, MD, OB/ Gyn; and Andrea Manyon, MD, Family Medicine - and three interim female chairs. Stacey Watt, MD – Anesthesiology; Anne Marie Reynolds, MD, MPH, Pediatrics; and, Beth Smith, MD, Psychiatry.
Focus on Addressing Health Disparities
The Jacobs School is working to create an inclusive community and tackle health disparities through unique partnerships, research and special events.
Among these in the last year were the annual Igniting Hope Conference, the Social Justice Fellowship Research Symposium, the Beyond the Knife endowed lectureship, the inaugural LGBTQIA+ Education and Inclusivity in Health Care event and Western New York’s first Reproductive Justice Conference.
A collaboration between the Jacobs School and Michigan State University was initiated to address gun violence as both schools were affected by mass shootings on or near their campuses in 2022 and 2023. Michigan State students and faculty were invited to Buffalo for the May 14 remembrance events and Jacobs School students and faculty are attending events marking the anniversary of the Feb. 13, 2023 shooting at MSU.
The Power of Philanthropic Investments
Funding from donors and alumni is hugely impactful as the school works to recruit new researchers and invest in our learners.
8
4,519
22 NEW
2 NEW ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS
Thaddeus P. Waters, MD, was installed as the inaugural Amol S. Lele, MD, Professor and Chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Jacobs School.
A $500,000 endowment from Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research, and Vicki Murphy will support pilot studies at the Community Health Equity Research Institute, as well as provide scholarships to nurse practitioner students focused on mental health.
13,891
Everyone Has Connections to Buffalo Alumni Stats
GIFTS OF
OR MORE
$1M
DONORS
ENDOWMENTS
TO SUPPORT STUDENTS, FACULTY AND RESEARCH
TOTAL ALUMNI THE LARGEST CONCENTRATION OF ALUMNI 6,890 NEW YORK 850 CALIFORNIA 603 FLORIDA 166 WASHINGTON 40 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Looking Ahead
The health care landscape is undergoing constant transformation, fueled by advancements in technology, medicine, and public health. At the vanguard of this evolution stands the Jacobs School, working in close collaboration with the Jacobs Institute.
Together, these two institutions are dedicated to developing novel and innovative health care solutions that will enhance the lives of people around the globe. The Jacobs School stands as a preeminent provider of medical education, while the Jacobs Institute conducts groundbreaking research that is shaping the future of health care.
Both organizations played a pivotal role in the development of “The Future of Health” report, which provides a roadmap for transforming the health care system. The report highlights a range of emerging technologies with the potential to revolutionize health care, including artificial intelligence, gene editing, and nanotechnology. It also advocates for a more patient-centered approach to health care, one rooted in compassion, common sense, and ethical clarity.
Embark on a journey towards a healthier future today. Scan the QR code below to read “The Future of Health” report and become an agent of change in the health care landscape.
cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what can say is they must change if they are to get better.” Georg C. Lichtenberg, 18th-century German physicist FROM PROFIT TO PEOPLE The economics of healthcare is the elephant in the exam room. Money impacts everything in our medical system. Redesigning economic incentives can improve all aspects of healthcare, from patient experience to physician burnout. Will we see a future where the dazzling new ideas and technologies that we describe are deployed to optimally serve Americans? Our current system is a paradox. On the one hand, science and technology in the past 100-plus years have vastly improved human health. Average lifespans have doubled, and the quality of life is dramatically better for millions of people. New discoveries and technologies continue to dazzle, and complex and costly interventions are on the rise. In 2022, there were 3,817 heart transplants in the US, up tenfold from a decade ago. But it’s a system designed to treat the sick, and one rife with waste, exorbitant costs and soaring profits that too often benefit shareholders and special interests over people. While medical providers and caregivers care deeply for their patients, the system makes it difficult to prioritize the longterm health of individuals. Our current fee-for-service system focuses on treating, not preventing, illness. Chronic conditions that require lifelong medications and expensive procedures are the profit centers for clinicians and hospitals. In 2023, Medicaid will serve more than 100 million low-income people— fully one in three insured Americans. Unfortunately, recipients of the program often struggle to find primary care doctors and face long delays for surgery or specialty care. The result is that ERs are overused and fewer patients receive preventive screenings or consistent help managing chronic conditions. Medicare benefits in 2021 totaled $829 billion, rising from $541 billion in 2011. At almost $5 trillion a year, healthcare costs in the US are unsustainable. That’s $13,000 per person, an amount more than the annual income of people living in over 100 nations. The US ranks number one in per capita expenditures on healthcare, followed by Germany at $7,383 per person. Other wealthy countries spend around $6,000 per person a year—less than half the US expenditure. All totaled, healthcare costs account for nearly one-fifth of the country’s gross domestic product. A VAST MISMATCH OF OUTCOMES AND PROFITS Despite the cost of our healthcare system, the US ranks 54th in infant mortality— behind Uruguay, Cuba and Russia—34th in life expectancy and. The US is still home to some of the best outcomes when it comes to highly technical procedures such as organ transplants and individualized cancer care. But for many other diseases we rank near the bottom of the 38 OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, which include many of the world’s wealthiest nations. The US also ranks among the highest for obesity and diabetes. Fully six in ten Americans have one or more chronic conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes and mental illness. Four in ten are dealing with more than one disease. At the same time, in 2020 the 35 largest pharmaceutical companies had double the net profit margin (nearly 14%) of non-pharma companies listed on the S&P 500 Index. For-profit hospitals have made nearly 11% in net profits since 2019, even during the pandemic. Employee-sponsored health insurance has soared 47% for the average family since 2011, with deductibles consuming almost 12% of their income. Recent polls have found that 46% of insured adults struggle to afford out-of-pocket costs and 29% don’t take prescribed medicine because it costs too much. Medical costs are the number one cause of personal bankruptcies in the country. 06 REIMAGINING HEALTHCARE ECONOMICS AS A HUMAN-CENTERED SYSTEM THE US HEALTHCARE SYSTEM COSTS TOO MUCH, FOCUSES ON PROFITS OVER PEOPLE, AND DELIVERS WORSE OUTCOMES THAN LESS EXPENSIVE SYSTEMS IN OTHER COUNTRIES. FORTUNATELY, NEW TECHNOLOGIES LIKE AI AND ROBOTICS COULD MAKE THE SYSTEM MORE EFFICIENT AND USER-FRIENDLY FOR PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS OVER THE NEXT 10–20 YEARS—ALONGSIDE POTENTIALLY REVOLUTIONARY POLICY REFORM IDEAS TO DELIVER BETTER CARE FOR LESS MONEY. BUT ONLY IF WE HAVE THE WILL AS A SOCIETY TO CHANGE THE CURRENT SYSTEM. 14% Pharmaceutical company net profit margin $5 US annual healthcare spending TRILLION Annual healthcare cost per person US $13 THOUSAND THE FUTURE OF HEALTH 31
Watch the 64-minute video of Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, vice president for health sciences at the University at Buffalo, and dean of Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, as she delivers the 2023 State of the School Address.
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