Norma J. Nowak, Ph.D.

Director of Science and Technology
New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences

Norma Jean Nowak, Ph.D., is recognized as a leader in the field of genomics.  Her research contributed directly to the Human Genome Project, as well as to microarray-based approaches to understanding heritable disorders and cancer. In 2003, she was named director of science and technology for the New York State Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences.

A graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB), where she received her Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology, Dr. Nowak has spent her career contributing to the vibrancy of the Western New York life sciences industry. She previously served since 1999 as director of the Microarray and Genomics Facility, a collaborative research lab shared by Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, headquartered at RPCI. Prior to that, she was involved for 14 years in research at RPCI developing physical clone resources for cloning disease genes and mapping the human genome.

Among her major achievements, Nowak has authored landmark papers describing the cloning of several heritable cancer disorders, including a form of Ataxia Telangiectasia (Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome). Her work on the Human Genome Project was published in the genome issue of Nature. Dr. Nowak led and coordinated the three groups for the NCI extramural Cancer Chromosome Aberration Project. As part of this project, Dr. Nowak also developed BAC based array CGH (Comparative Genomic Hybridization) a microarray-based method for identifying numerical differences in DNA between tumor and normal cells and cells from individuals with genetic disorders. The results of this work were published in Nature Genetics. She also was a key member of the GENSAT project studying spatial and temporal gene expression during development of the central nervous system in mice, and this work was published in the 2003 genome edition of Nature.

Nowak, who has received more than $4 million in research grants from the National Institutes of Health and various foundations, has authored or co-authored 80 research articles in leading scientific journals and has served as an associate editor of Physiological Genomics. She recently joined the editorial board of Cytogenetics and Genome Research as an Associate Editor.

News

NCI Awards Grant for Photodynamic Therapy Research
05/07/2008 - BUFFALO, NY – The National Cancer Institute has awarded Ravi, Pandey, PhD, a five-year, $2.9 million grant to identify multifunctional photosensitizers for image-guided photodynamic therapy of brain and other tumors...[Read On...]

Reception to Honor UB's Inventors, Entrepreneurs
05/04/2008 - BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo and its Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR) will recognize the research and commercialization achievements of faculty members at the annual Inventors and Entrepreneurs Reception to be held from 4-6 p.m. May 5 in The Buffalo Club, 388 Delaware Ave...[Read On]

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Events

May 22 - Life Sciences Commercialization Lecture Series Presentation: A Year in Review from One of the Region’s Newest Biotech Companies
Join us for our May Life Sciences Commericalization Lecture Series presentation. Mike Zwick, CEO, will be presenting on AndroBioSys and their growth in the past year.  AndroBioSys is one of regions newest biotech companies.  They focus on identifying specific targets in prostate tumors, which may be developed to improve prostate cancer treatment.  This event is free and open to the public. To register or for more information contact us at cbi-info@buffalo.edu. 

May 22 - Beakers 'n Beer
Come join researchers, entrepreneurs, and medical professionals from the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus for food and networking. Invite friends to this FREE event! Refreshments include beer and chicken wings. 5-7pm at the DoubleTree Club Hotel, 125 High Street. Sponsored by the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.


To view the complete list of events and event details, please visit our Events page

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