Rate My Professor Mark Hicar

Mark D. Hicar, MD, PhD, FPIDS, FIDSA, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, serving in Medicine. He holds the positions of Chief, Pediatric Infectious Diseases; Program Director, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship; Interim Vice Chair for Research, Pediatrics; and Interim Director, Child and Maternal Health Research Institute. Hicar earned a BA in Biology from the University of Chicago in 1993 and MD and PhD in Medicine and Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics from The Ohio State University College of Medicine in 2002. He completed his internship and residency in Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 2003 and 2005, respectively, followed by a fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases there in 2009. Board-certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases, he joined the University at Buffalo in 2012 as Assistant Professor, advancing to Research Assistant Professor (2015-2017), Associate Professor (2020-present), and attending physician at Oishei Children's Hospital (2012-present). Additional roles include Adjunct Faculty at the University of Rochester Center for AIDS Research (2016-present) and Medical Staff at Erie County Department of Health (2018-present).

Hicar's research specializes in B cell responses during inflammation, with primary projects on HIV—characterizing human antibodies targeting epitopes on the HIV Envelope protein and evaluating vaccine candidates—and Kawasaki disease, examining B cell roles in pathogenesis and local presentation in Western New York. His lab seeks to enhance immunogen design for better antibody induction and mucosal responses against viral infections. Key publications include "Neutralizing antibodies derived from the B cells of 1918 influenza pandemic survivors" (Nature, 2008), "Human Antibodies that Recognize Novel Immunodominant Quaternary Epitopes on the HIV-1 Env Protein" (PLoS One, 2016), "Suppressed plasmablast responses in febrile infants, including children with Kawasaki disease" (PLoS One, 2018), and "Monoclonal antibody 2C6 targets cross-clade conformational epitope in gp41 with highly active antibody dependent cell cytotoxicity" (Journal of Virology, 2019). Awards encompass Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Buffalo Spree Top Doctors in Western New York (2017-present), NIH Loan Repayment Award (2006-2012), Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and St. Jude Fellowship in Basic Research (2006-2009), and Infectious Diseases Society of America ERF/NFID Wyeth Young Investigator Award (2009-2011). He contributes as Assistant Editor for B cell biology in Frontiers in Immunology, serves on committees including UB Senate Faculty Senator (2025-2027) and MD-PhD Admissions, and delivers lectures such as at the Global Virus Network (2024).