Fliesler wins scientific and ethical awards

Steven J. Fliesler received recent awards from the University at Buffalo and the American Oil Chemists' Society, or AOCS, for his outstanding contributions to research and service and for upholding high standards of academic integrity.

Steven J. Fliesler

Fliesler received the Faculty/Staff Distinction in Academic Integrity Award for his accomplishments in promoting academic integrity, including founding contributions to the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative program’s module on Responsible Conduct of Research and advocating against plagiarism. In addition, he was named the AOCS 2025 Schroepfer Medal recipient. This award was named in honor of George J. Schroepfer Jr., a world-renowned leader in the sterol and lipid field. He also earned the UB Stockton Kimball Award in recognition of his scientific achievements and service. The award was named for Kimball, a former dean of the UB medical school.

Fliesler is a professor of ophthalmology and biochemistry at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University at Buffalo. His lab described the role of the lipid intermediate pathway in glycoprotein synthesis in the human retina as well as the importance of protein glycosylation for normal retinal photoreceptor cell differentiation. In addition, his lab demonstrated the essential role of cholesterol in the normal development and maintenance of retinal structure and function.

Fliesler has received numerous other awards and honors, including being named a Gold-tier Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and receiving the Paul Kayser International Award in Retina Research from the Retina Research Foundation.

“It is very gratifying to be recognized for my contributions over the years to promoting academic integrity as well as the integrity of the scientific literature,” Fliesler said. Regarding the Schroepfer Medal, he said, “This lifetime achievement award is particularly meaningful to me, because I performed my Ph.D. research under the guidance of professor George J. Schroepfer, for whom this award is named, … many years ago.”