Patricia Diaz Named Director of UB’s Microbiome Center

BUFFALO, NY – Patricia Diaz, DDS, PhD, professor of Empire Innovation in the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Dental Medicine, has been named the new director of the UB Microbiome Center. She replaces the late Robert J. Genco, DDS, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Oral Biology, who served as the UB Microbiome Center’s inaugural director.

The UB Microbiome Center brings together faculty, students and resources to achieve a deeper understanding of the microbiome’s role in health and disease, and to identify methods for intervention. The center facilitates collaborations among investigators across UB and supports interdisciplinary projects through its clinical, laboratory and analytical research infrastructure.

Diaz’s research focuses on the role of the microbiome in oral diseases, such as chronic gum disease, oral thrush and mucositis during the course of cancer therapy. Her work aims to improve the understanding of how imbalances in the oral microbiome lead to disease, as well as develop tools to manipulate the microbiome to interfere with disease development.

She joined the UB Department of Oral Biology this year, after previously serving as an associate professor of oral health and diagnostic sciences at the University of Connecticut Health Center.

In her new role, Diaz will use her education and experience to lead and facilitate multidirectional and multidisciplinary integration of basic and patient-oriented research.