Associate Chief of Staff for Research

Ali A. El Solh MD, MPH

Ali A. El Solh MD, MPH is a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University at Buffalo. He holds both a clinical appointment and an administrative position at the VA WNY Healthcare System. Aside from overseeing the Research operation at the VA Western New York, I attend and supervise the sleep clinic at the VA.

Solh’s research focuses on the association between sleep apnea and cardiovascular diseases. As part of a VA merit review grant, he is engaged in determining the impact of obstructive sleep apnea with and without insomnia on the manifestations of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans and whether treatment of sleep apnea alleviates the debilitating symptoms of PTSD. Toward that goal, he has adopted a patented AI-based screening tool to identify patients with sleep apnea.

Learn more about Ali A. El Solh MD, MPH and his research:

Karin Provost DO, PhD

Karin Provost DO, PhD’s clinical responsibilities include working as one of five Intensive Care Unit physicians where she is the Co-Director of the ICU, and providing Pulmonary consultation at the Buffalo VA Medical Center (Buffalo VAMC). 

As the Director of the COPD Clinical Trials Consortium within the VA, Provost works with VA Medical Centers across the nation to allow our veterans access to cutting edge research opportunities.

Learn more about Karin Provost DO, PhD and her research:

M. Jeffery Mador MD

M. Jeffery Mador MD’s patient care responsibilities are centered at the Veterans Administration Western New York Healthcare System (VA) where he cares for hospitalized patients with pulmonary problems as well as maintains two active outpatient clinics in the VA system: the pulmonary clinic and the sleep medicine clinic. Mador also supervises the continuity clinics at the VA, and has a sleep clinic at UBMD sleep.

Learn more about M. Jeffery Mador MD and his research:

Hasan H. Dosluoglu MD

Hasan H. Dosluoglu MD is the Chief of Surgery and Vascular Surgery, Surgery and Vascular Surgery, VA WNY Healthcare System. His main areas of clinical and research interests are abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms (esp. stent graft repair), limb salvage interventions (bypasses and angioplasty/stenting procedures), and carotid artery disease. He also has an interest in wound healing, and holds a wound clinic once a week.

Learn more about Hasan H. Dosluoglu MD and his research:

Michael H. Farkas PhD

Michael H. Farkas PhD is an Associate Professor in the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Department of Ophthalmology whose research includes gene therapy, bioinformatics, pathogenesis, RNA, stem cells, and vision science.

Learn more about Michael H. Farkas PhD and his research:

Rajiv Ranjan MD

Rajiv Ranjan MD cares for patients with a variety of renal diseases, including acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and end-stage renal disease, that require renal replacement therapy and renal transplantation. His clinical responsibilities are exclusively at the Buffalo VA Medical Center (Buffalo VAMC) where he takes care of both outpatient and inpatient renal patients.

Ranjan sees outpatients in the renal clinic and dialysis unit at the Buffalo VAMC and serves as the director of the renal clinic.

As the resident program director of the Nephrology Fellowship Program at the Buffalo VAMC, he is responsible for supervising and providing guidance to the fellows in renal medicine when they are rotating at the medical center.

Learn more about Rajiv Ranjan MD and his research:

John C. Hu MD, PhD

John C. Hu MD, PhD is an Clinical Associate Professor in the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Department whose research focuses on immunology, infectious disease, internal medicine, microbiology, and translational research.

Learn more about John C. Hu MD, PhD and his research:

Charles S. Berenson MD

Charles S. Berenson MD is a Professor of Medicine whose patient care and teaching responsibilities are centered at the Veterans Administration hospital. His research focuses on three key areas of the function of specialized immune cells called macrophages, as part of ongoing research surrounding HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and respiratory illness stemming from exposures during the Gulf War. 

Learn more about Charles S. Berenson MD and his research:

Steven J. Fliesler PhD

Steven J. Fliesler PhD is a SUNY Distinguished Professor and Vice-Chair/Director of Research/Ophthalmology at the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. His lab focuses on studies of the role of lipid and protein oxidation in the underlying mechanisms of photoreceptor cell death in such retinal degenerations, using a combination of genomic, proteomic, and lipidomic approaches.

Fliesler’s research also studies the effects of acoustic blast overpressure on retinal structure and function, and possible therapeutic interventions for blast-induced retinal injury.

Learn more about Steven J. Fliesler PhD and his research:

John M. Sullivan MD, PhD

​​John M. Sullivan MD, PhD is a clinician scientist in the field of hereditary retinal and macular degenerations. His NIH- and VA- funded laboratory focuses on the development of gene-based and nucleic acid therapeutics for hereditary retinal degenerations and common age-related macular degeneration.

Learn more about ​​John M. Sullivan MD, PhD and his research:

Sangita P. Patel MD, PhD

Sangita P. Patel MD, PhD is a specialist in cornea and external diseases of the eye. As a clinician scientist, her goal is to discover treatments and preventative strategies for diseases causing corneal swelling that currently can only be treated by corneal transplantation.

Patel’s current research focuses on understanding why Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy is more common in women than men.

Learn more about Sangita P. Patel MD, PhD and her research:

Mariel Rivero MD

Mariel Rivero MD is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and Assistant Chief of Surgery in the VA WNY Healthcare System. Her clinical research focuses on Endovascular and Vascular surgeries.

Learn more about Mariel Rivero MD and her research:

James A. Fallavollita MD

James A. Fallavollita MD is a physician-scientist that has served on numerous research-related oversight committees and as a peer reviewer for multiple national, regional and local committees. Nearly all of his clinical and research activities are performed in conjunction with the education of fellows in cardiovascular diseases, residents in internal medicine and medical students.

Fallavollita’s clinical activities as a noninvasive cardiologist primarily take place at the Buffalo VA Medical Center (VAMC). His responsibilities include attending on the inpatient cardiology consultation service and interpreting echocardiograms, stress tests and electrocardiograms (EKGs). He is in the process of extending his joint findings on chronic myocardial ischemia and sudden cardiac death to the clinical management of patients with implantable cardiac defibrillators.

Learn more about James A. Fallavollita MD and his research:

Andrew Grant Puckett, DPM

Andrew Grant Puckett, DPM, FACFAS served in the United States Air Force and is a ABFAS Board Certified Podiatric Surgeon, Chief of Podiatry/rearfoot and ankle surgeon, and Comprehensive Limb Salvage Fellowship Director at VHA Western New York at Buffalo. He has a longstanding history in rear foot and ankle reconstruction surgery, medical education, and leadership roles both within the USAF and WNY medical community.

Amongst his achievements, Puckett expanded the Podiatry clinic to double capacity, streamlined operations, expanded coverage to the Southern Tier, and spearheaded an affiliation agreement with Catholic Health Care System to bring Podiatric Surgical Residents to VHA WNY.

Learn more about James Andrew Grant Puckett, DPM and his research: