The Falls Informatics Group is supported by federal agencies, private foundations, and institutional awards spanning computational drug discovery, clinical informatics, and biomedical education.
Ongoing federal and foundation awards supporting the group's research, training, and translational programs.
This NIH/NIDA K01 Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award funds Dr. Falls' investigation of multi-drug co-prescribing regimens that produce adverse drug reactions in patients with substance use disorders and comorbid conditions. The award supports both career development activities and independent research.
The project leverages New York State Medicaid administrative claims and electronic health records to characterize polypharmacy patterns in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD). Using translational bioinformatics methods, the research bridges population-scale prescribing data with computational drug interaction modeling, aiming to identify dangerous multi-drug combinations and develop predictive tools for clinical decision support.
This award directly supports the group's Clinical & Population Informatics research thrust and provides protected time for Dr. Falls to develop expertise in clinical pharmacology and health informatics at the intersection of addiction medicine.
The Sinsheimer Scholar Award is granted by the Alexandrine and Alexander L. Sinsheimer Fund to recognize and support outstanding early-career biomedical researchers demonstrating exceptional promise. Dr. Falls was named a Sinsheimer Scholar in 2024 in recognition of his contributions to computational drug discovery and biomedical informatics.
The award provides flexible research funds to support pilot studies, preliminary data generation, and methodological development in the group's core computational programs. It has directly supported work on CANDO platform enhancements, benchmarking studies, and exploration of AI-guided drug design approaches in new disease areas.
The NLM T15 BRIGHT training grant funds graduate and postdoctoral training in biomedical informatics at the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The program prepares trainees in computational biology, clinical informatics, genomics, and health data science — skills central to the mission of the Falls Informatics Group.
Dr. Falls serves as a Co-Investigator, mentor, and instructor within the BRIGHT program. He supervises BRIGHT-funded trainees conducting research in computational drug discovery and population health informatics, and contributes to the curriculum in pharmacoinformatics and data science methods. The grant also supports the R25 Summer BRIGHT Fellowship, which has brought undergraduate researchers into the lab.
The NIH/NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) supports the University at Buffalo's Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC), a hub for accelerating the translation of biomedical discoveries into effective treatments and health improvements for patients and communities. UB is one of roughly 60 institutions nationwide to hold a CTSA award.
Dr. Falls contributes biomedical informatics and data science expertise to the CTSA infrastructure, supporting research design, analytics, and training programs across the institution. The award provides access to shared core facilities, pilot funding mechanisms, and collaborative infrastructure that benefit the Falls Informatics Group's translational research programs in drug discovery and clinical data science.
Previously funded projects that contributed to the group's foundational research program.
Several active grants fund trainee positions and fellowship opportunities within or affiliated with the Falls Informatics Group.
Undergraduate summer research fellowships funded through the NLM BRIGHT T15 program. Fellows conduct 8–10 week mentored research projects in biomedical informatics. Open to undergraduates from UB and partner institutions.
Summer research experience for UB undergraduates pursuing research in computational biology and biomedical informatics. Fellows are embedded in active research projects and mentored directly by Dr. Falls.
Graduate students may join the lab through the Department of Biomedical Informatics PhD program. Students are supported by teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and fellowship mechanisms as available.
Postdoctoral fellowship opportunities may be available depending on current funding and research needs. Candidates with backgrounds in computational chemistry, machine learning, clinical data science, or bioinformatics are encouraged to inquire.
For inquiries about fellowship positions, graduate admissions, postdoctoral opportunities, or collaborative grant development, please reach out directly.
Contact Dr. FallsResearch reported on this website was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Alexandrine and Alexander L. Sinsheimer Fund. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or any other funding agency.