Dr. Wei Chen

I received my Ph.D. in physics from the University of Oregon in 1988. I am currently the Assistant Dean in the UCO College of Mathematics and Science as well as a Professor in the Engineering Physics Department. In 2007, I was elected as a Fellow of SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. My main research interests include laser-tissue interactions for both soft and hard tissues, laser photothermal treatment of cancer, anti-tumor immune responses induced by laser treatment, simulation of light transport in tissues, and monitoring of cancer treatment using different imaging techniques. I have spent over 10 years conducting research in laser cancer treatment, laser tissue welding, biomedical cancer imaging, and cancer chemotherapy treatment.

Dr. Robert Brennan

I received my Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center.  After spending 4 years with 3M in their medical division as a product developer and researcher, I joined the faculty at UCO in 2009.  I am primarily interested in host-pathogen interactions with ultimate goals of identify biological markers to improve the diagnostics, treatment, and prevention of infectious disease. Previous projects have included efforts to develop a vaccine for the prevention of pneumonia in cattle, evaluating antibody responses to outer membrane proteins of Pasteurella haemolytica, developing a real-time PCR assay for quantifying Coxiella burnetti, and characterizing the C5a peptidase of Streptococcus pyogenes.  Current projects that students in my lab are involved with include evaluating the susceptibility patterns of bacteria isolated from water collected near waste water treatment facilities and characterizing MRSA carriage in healthy populations.  Future work will concentrate on developing a better understanding of the relationship between bacterial biofilms and chronic wounds.

Dr. Lilian Chooback

Cloning, Expression, and Purification of Yeast Aminotransferase - Lysine is synthesized in sccharomyces cerevisiae via the α-aminoadipate pathway.  α-Aminoadipate is made from α-ketoadipate via the action of a PLP-dependent aminotransferase that has not been identified. Sequence alignments and a homology search for conserved amino acid residues were used to identify six aminotransferase genes in S. Cerevisiae. Based upon the homology, the identified genes code for two aromatic aminotransferases, two aspartate aminotransferases, one kynurenine aminotransferas, and one putative aminotransferase of unknown function. The cloned genes were obtained from the Harvard Institute of Proteomics Plasmid Repository. The genes were subcloned into expression vector pET16b. The expressed his-tagged protein had been purified using a Ni-NTA affinity column. We are at the early stage of kinetic characterization of these enzymes. We are also planning to crystallize a few of these enzymes and look at their structure at the molecular level.

Dr. Jicheng Fu

I received my Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2009.  I joined the Computer Science Department of UCO in 2009 as well.  In my research, I focus on automated program synthesis and artificial intelligence.  I have proosed an advanced program synthesis framework in which Model-Driven Architecture, AI Planning, and Component-Based Software Development techniques are seamlessly integrated.  This framework enables both static and dynamic aspects of the system to be automatically generated.  My other research interests include Service-Oriented Architecture and Automated Software Testing.  Before I started to pursue my Ph.D., I worked in industry for six years and have hands-on experience on software design and development.

Dr. Yuhao Jiang

I received my Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. My research is in the broad area of medical image processing. One research project I have been working is X-ray fluoroscopy system optimization. Quantitative image technique is used to reduce x-ray dosage to the patients while maintain acceptable image quality. Another research project I am currently focusing on is to apply image quality techniques to evaluating and optimizing the trans-rectal ultrasound-coupled optical tomography for a better detection of prostate cancer. I have worked and supervised some undergraduate research assistants.

Dr. Morshed Khandaker

Sports injuries that involve joint reconstruction are very difficult to treat, often requiring multiple surgeries, long periods of healing and rehabilitation. Current treatments employing cement, polymeric or metallic implants are deficient and can themselves lead to further complications. The long-term goal of this research is to develop biomaterials that have the ability of directing cellular responses between the host bone and grafted tissues and maintaining long-term functionality when they are introduced into the human body. My current research work focuses specifically on the use of nanoparticles with conventional bone cement to enhance the rehabilitation effectiveness of the cemented joint constructs.

Dr. Cynthia Murray

My background includes medical experience obtained from working five years in a hospital hematology department and working seventeen years as a biostatistician.  My research experience includes animal and human studies in which I provided the experimental design, sample size and power determinations, summary statistics and graphs, survival analysis, and multivariate analyses.  I have published 29 peer-reviewed papers and I have collaborated with researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center (OUHSC), Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center, and the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality (OFMQ).

Dr. Gang Qian

I completed my Ph.D. in computer science at Michigan State University in 2004. My research interests include database systems, information retrieval, and bioinformatics. Prior to joining UCO, I worked as a software engineer and a technical consultant in industry for several years. Recently I have been investigating new indexing methods for bioinformatics queries.

Dr. Melville Vaughan

My research interests are primarily the cell biology of wound healing and aging. I study how cells interact with their environment by using artificial in vitro models of cells and their tissues. By modifying either the cells or the surrounding tissue we can address the important questions of the field, such as how long does in vitro aging or telomerase expression affect non-muscle contraction, cell migration, or epithelialization? Most of this work is being performed by undergraduate students at UCO, or in collaboration with scientists at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, where I earned my Ph.D., or at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas where I pursued postdoctoral training.  More information can be found at my website http://biology.uco.edu/biopage.mel.htm

Dr. Gang Xu

I received my B.S. in Theoretical & Applied Mechanics and M.S. in Fluid Mechanics (Biomechanics) from Fudan University in China in 1998 and 2001, respectively. I then received my M.S. and D.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from Washington University in 2004 and 2006, respectively. My research interests span subcellular, cellular, and developmental biomechanics. My expertise involves the integration of experimental and computational mechanics to investigate biomechanical principles that are intrinsic to fundamental problems in biology and medicine. I am currently studying the cellular and subcellular biomechanics of cilia and flagella, organelles whose motility and mechanosensory function play a central role in development, health, and disease. Before joining UCO, I was a research assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Washington University in St. Louis.

Dr. Jim Bidlack

With a B.S. (Purdue University, 1984), M.S. (University of Arkansas, 1986), and Ph.D. (Iowa State University, 1990), I decided to stay in college for life because I like teaching and research.  I started at UCO a few months after defending my dissertation.  Most of my education focuses primarily on agriculture and botany, with an emphasis in plant anatomy and physiology.  Our Research Group is diverse and we are currently working on conversion of light energy into usable energy with photosynthetic pigments, mechanisms of gene transfer in bacteria, optimization of crop biofuel production, and secondary plant metabolism.  For more information, go to http://metabolism.net/bidlack or http://biology.uco.edu/bidlack

Dr. Brittany Bannish

My research interest is in mathematical biology. I enjoy using mathematics to answer biological questions, to suggest interesting experiments to biologists, and to pose new questions that scientists perhaps had not considered previously. I have a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Utah. My thesis research was on fibrinolysis -- how blood clots break up. I developed a multiscale mathematical model that includes differential equations, stochastic equations, and significant computation in order to study the underlying mechanisms of clot degradation. I love finding interesting questions in biology and then applying (and learning) mathematical techinques to most appropriately investigate those questions.

Dr. Sean Laverty

I am in the UCO Department of Mathematics and Statistics.  I earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Utah in 2011.  My research area is mathematical biology with an emphasis on epidemiology, ecology, and ecological statistics.  In graduate school, I studied the transmission dynamics of Sin Nombre virus (a hantavirus) in deer mice.  This research, aimed at identifying the important features of inter-host transmission of infection, blended fieldwork, data analysis, and mathematical modeling.  I have also written and analyzed mathematical models that describe the transmission of human rhinovirus, taking into account details and dynamics of the host immune system.  That said, I am interested in most applications of mathematics to biological dynamics and I am eager to explore new problems.