The UB Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine was presented with a $1 million donation from the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation on Tuesday, Sept. 20.
Members of the UB administration and the office of medical education were on hand as Mary McLean Wilson, Ralph Wilson's wife and trustee of the foundation, announced the donation at a press conference on Tuesday morning. The press conference was held at UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences on the city campus.
Ralph Wilson is the founder, owner, and president of the Buffalo Bills. He has been recognized numerous times for his philanthropic endeavors throughout the Western New York community.
Wilson spoke fondly of the UB medical schools and staff, many of whom also serve on the medical staff of the Bills. She also relayed a message from her husband, who was unable to make the event: "Tell [the doctors they're] the most important players on the team."
Also in attendance at the press conference was Bills' offensive lineman Demetrius Bell. He spoke on behalf of the team, expressing gratitude toward the medical staff and all that it does for the team during games and throughout the week.
Bell also offered a personal thank you to John Marzo, M.D., an associate professor of clinical orthopaedics at UB and medical director for the Buffalo Bills. Marzo had performed what Bell called "career saving" cartilage transplant surgery on Bell's right knee after Bell was injured in 2009.
Marzo has served on the medical staff of the Bills since 1991 and has been amazed by the "unprecedented level of support" given by the Wilson family to UB.
He explained that the donation is going toward two main initiatives: education and research.
The school hopes to advance these initiatives through three different projects.
First, the department will be hiring a sports medicine clinical research coordinator who will oversee major research studies.
Second, a portion of the donation will be going toward supporting the Buffalo Bills Sports Medicine Symposium, a visiting professorship program. The symposium has already attracted several nationally and internationally renowned professors with whom the school hopes to exchange educational and orthopedic ideas.
The third project that the donation is going toward is the purchase of an arthroscopy simulator. This device, which is only one of 14 in existence, allows the medical professional to see a person's joints with a minimally intrusive procedure.
Michael Cain, M.D., vice president for health science and dean of the school of medicine and biomedical sciences, was grateful for the donation. Serving as master of ceremonies for the event, Cain praised the work of his colleagues.
"Some Bills players have referred to these physicians as the best of the business," Cain said. "The department will use this gift to expand its facilities and resources."
The event was part of a weeklong series of events celebrating the inauguration of Satish K. Tripathi as UB's 15th president. Tripathi was at the event and delivered the closing remarks of the conference.
"I haven't played football before," said Tripathi to Wilson and Bell. "But with these doctors, I guess I could try."
Tripathi also reinforced the university's goals of becoming a school of world-class caliber through achievements in academics, research, and discovery. He believes that through this donation, UB takes one step closer to that ambition.
"UB has a commitment to stronger, healthier communities," Tripathi said. "The better UB [becomes at medicine], the stronger our impact on the community will be."
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