Summer Research Training Program Mentors
Learn more about each mentor below
- Dr. João Brandão
Department: Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Title: Associate Professor, Zoological Medicine
Years at OSU: 6
Contact Info: Email: jbrandao@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas: endocrinology, sedation and anesthesia, coagulation, clinical research
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- The use of lignocaine-prilocaine local anesthetic and capsaicin cream for pain-free venipuncture in rabbits
- Comparison of body temperature site measurement to rectal temperature in healthy rabbits
- Thyrotropin stimulating hormone in rabbits
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Organized and self-driven
- Willing to work independently or in partnership with other students
- Joshua T. Butcher, BA, MS, Ph.D.
Department: Physiological Sciences
Title: Assistant Professor
Years at OSU: 3
Contact Info:
- Email: joshua.butcher@okstate.edu
- Phone: (405) 744-8088
Current Research Interest Areas:
- I have multiple research interests, but currently my research paradigm focuses on obesity and aging (sarcopenic obesity). We are currently looking at how exercise (specifically skeletal muscle) can uncouple obesity from its cardiometabolic complications (like hypertension, vascular dysfunction, renal disease, diabetes, etc.) and overlaying these comorbidities in an aging rodent model.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- One potential project idea would be: “Obesity and its Effects on Brain Oxidant Stress, Aging and Vascular Adrenergic Dysfunction, Does an Exercise Mimetic Improve Renal Function, Obesity and its Effect on Lung Function, etc.” That being said, if a student has a particular passion for a topic that’s not listed, I’ve certainly never been one to shy away from a new scientific adventure!
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- The ideal student will have an enthusiasm for science and willingness to work hard in a team setting.
- Rudra Channappanavar, DVM, PhD
Department: Veterinary Pathobiology
Title: Assistant Professor
Contact Info: rchanna@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Major focus of research in my laboratory is to study the immune response to coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV. We examine protective efficacy of antiviral agents and vaccines in models of coronavirus infections. We also study factors that lead to protective and pathogenic immunity to coronaviruses in young and aged, and males and females. We utilize in-vitro and in-vivo (animal models) systems to assess the role of immune response during coronavirus infections.
- View publications
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- Evaluate vaccine induced immunity against coronaviruses in young and aged hosts.
- Test the efficacy of novel antiviral and anti-inflammatory drugs in COVID19 models.
- Identify host and virus factors that cause severe vs mild to moderate disease.
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- An ideal research student would be highly motivated, hard-working, and sincere who can work as a team with other laboratory members.
- Dr. Henrique Cheng
Department: Physiological Sciences
Title: Associate Professor of Physiology
Time at OSU: 3 months
Contact Info:
- Email: henrique.cheng@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Diabetes Research: Regulation of insulin secretion by natural compounds for diabetes treatment.
- Stem Cell Research: Endocrine control of stem cell differentiation for tissue regeneration.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- Molecular mechanism of malvidin stimulated insulin secretion in pancreatic beta cells
- Osteocalcin-induced osteogenic differentiation of dental follicle stem cells
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Curious and interested in research
- Dr. Xufang Deng
Department: Physiological Sciences
Title: Assistant Professor
Years at OSU: 1 year, 3 months
Contact Info: xufang.deng@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Dr. Deng’s research mainly focuses on understanding coronavirus replication, viral-host interplay, and pathogenesis. His research subjects include human coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the coronaviruses that infect domestic animals (swine, bovine, pets, etc.). Dr. Deng's research uses a variety of state-of-art techniques including reverse genetics and CRISPR-Cas to identify viral and host components that determine coronavirus diseases in BSL-2 and BSL/ABSL-3 settings. Dr. Deng’s research aims to facilitate the discovery and development of effective anti-coronavirus strategies.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- Developing a live-attenuated porcine coronavirus vaccine candidate using PROTAC
- Tissue tropism of porcine coronaviruses
- Cloning and construction of a reverse genetic platform for bovine coronavirus
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Interested in research and willing to learn
- Self-motivated and hard-working
- Team player
- Dr. Jennifer Grindstaff
Department: Integrative Biology
Title: Associate Professor
Years at OSU: 15
Contact Info: jen.grindstaff@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Avian microbiome, stress physiology, latitudinal variation in life history strategies
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- The gut microbiota as a facilitator of adaptation to environmental change
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Curious, reliable, team player, motivated
- Dr. Myron Hinsdale
Department: Physiological Sciences
Title: Associate Professor
Years at OSU: 16
Contact Info: myron.hinsdale@okstate.edu
*please use SRTP in the subject line
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Generally, how the extracellular matrix of organs affects tissue recovery/regeneration post-injusry. Liver and renal genetic disease, infectious disease of the respiratory system and stem cells in metabolic diseases.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- Oocyte implantation and proteoglycans
- Inhibitors of adipose stem cell adipogenesis
- Brain proteoglycans and structural changes
- Pulmonary proteoglycans and lung disease
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Curious, studious, excited about learning new techniques in and ideas about mechanisms of how organs maintain homeostasis.
- Clinton Jones, Ph.D.
Department: Veterinary Pathobiology
Title: Sitlington Professor of Infectious Diseases
Years at OSU: 7
Contact Info:
- Phone: (405) 744-1842
- Email: clint.jones10@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- My lab works on two neurotropic herpesviruses: bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) and herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). Our research is focused on how these viruses, establish, maintain, and reactivate from latency. Recently, we have been most interested in understanding how stress induces reactivation from latency, and how stress activates viral transcription.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- A summer research student would likely become involved with understanding how stress-induced transcription factors regulate viral replication and gene expression.
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- The ideal student will have an enthusiasm for science and willingness to work hard in a team setting.
- Dr. Dale Kelley
Department: Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Title: Assistant Professor
Years at OSU: 3
Contact Info:
- Phone: (405) 744-8586
- Email: dale.kelley@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Equine reproduction, investigating alternatives to antibiotics to treat endometritis in mares
- Dr. Veronique Lacombe
Department: Physiological Sciences
Title: Professor
Years at OSU: 10
Contact Info:
Current Research Interest Areas:
The Comparative Metabolism Laboratory investigates glucose metabolism during metabolic diseases (e.g., diabetes, insulin resistance and obesity) and novel metabolic therapeutic strategies that could benefit both veterinary and human patients.
Diabetes and obesity, global epidemic diseases, are significant risk factors for cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. One of the major pathogenic processes underlying these metabolic diseases results from a deficit of insulin production or action, with dysfunctional glucose uptake into insulin-sensitive tissues.
- Despite intensive research, the mechanisms of altered glucose transport observed during diabetes are still not well elucidated. Therefore, the main current mission of our research laboratory is to investigate the regulation of glucose transport in insulin-sensitive tissues (e.g., cardiac and skeletal muscles, and adipose tissues), but also in the lung and lamellar tissue. Glucose uptake from the bloodstream is tightly regulated by a family of specialized proteins called glucose transporters. Because every cell expresses these glucose transporters, they are recognized as major regulators of whole-body metabolism and thus, key pharmacological targets. The strength of our research program is to use a unique comparative approach by investigating both small and large animal models of metabolic diseases, spanning from transgenic mice to horses.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- The student will be involved in a translational research project on glucose metabolism with potential therapeutic applications for patients with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or respiratory infections. The student will learn research skills using biochemistry and molecular techniques (e.g., Western Blot and PCR techniques) and/or will develop proper handling skills for rodents. The student will also perform data analysis, interpret the results and present at the lab meeting. The student will be part of team, which includes graduate and undergraduate students.
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Curious, motivated, enthusiastic to learn and explore new field.
- Dr. Lin Liu
Department: Physiological Sciences
Title: Regents Professor and Director
Years at OSU: 22
Contact Info: lin.liu@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Host-pathogen interactions with a focus on influenza virus, SARS-CoV-2 and/or mycobacterium tuberculosis, pathogenesis of lung diseases (IPF and COPD), and stem cell therapy and human lung tissue modeling.
- Dr. Edralin Lucas
Department: Nutritional Sciences
Title: Jim and Lynne Williams Professor
Years at OSU: 27
Contact Info: edralin.a.lucas@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Bioactive food components in chronic disease prevention including obesity, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, inflammation and osteoporosis. Recently, we are exploring the effects of functional food on gut health including the gut microbiome and its implications in chronic disease prevention.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- Effect of pinto beans on gut and bone health in estrogen deficiency
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- hard working
- Dr. Elizabeth McCullagh
Department: Integrative Biology
Title: Assistant Professor
Years at OSU: 3
Contact Info: Elizabeth.mccullagh@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Neuroscience, autism, mammalian hearing, anuran hearing, anatomy, physiology, behavior
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- “Myelination in a mouse model of autism as a driver of auditory hypersensitivity”
- “Hearing differences across frequencies in a mouse model of autism”
- “Sex differences in hearing”
- “Monogamous prairie voles as a hearing model organism”
- “Tree frog hearing”
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Motivation and willingness to learn
- Craig Miller, DVM, Ph.D., DACVP
Department: Veterinary Pathobiology
Title: Assistant Professor; Anatomic Pathologist
Years at OSU: 4
Contact Info: craig.miller@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Immunopathology - Animal models of HIV - Apicomplexan parasite infection kinetics
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- Modulating oral immune dysfunction to improve HIV-induced inflammatory disease using the FIV animal model
- Immunopathology of SARS-CoV-2 infection in domestic cats
- Development of applications for early detection and improved therapies for Cytauxzoon felis
- Genomic investigations of felisantigenic determinants and virulence mechanisms
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- The ideal student will be dedicated with a strong interest in a career in biomedical research and animal models of disease.
- Dr. McKale Montgomery
Department: Nutritional Sciences
Title: Assistant Professor
Years at OSU: 5
Contact Info: mckale.montgomery@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- My laboratory’s long-term research goal is to understand how acquisition of exaggerated amounts of iron promotes metabolic perturbations and disease progression. My current research is specifically focused on how iron regulatory protein signaling influences ferroptosis activation and cellular sensitivity to ferroptotic cell death in both tumor and Alzheimer’s disease models.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- Contributions of Iron Regulatory Proteins and Ferroptosis to Neurodegeneration
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Organized, self-motivated, ability to multi-task
- Dr. Sunil More
Department: Veterinary Pathobiology
Title: Assistant Professor
Years at OSU: 3
Contact Info: sunil.more@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- SARS-CoV-2 and Secondary bacterial pneumonia, digital pathology
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- SARS-CoV-2 infection predisposes hosts to secondary bacterial infections
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Interest in disease pathogenesis research using cell culture and animal models.
- Jennifer Rudd, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVM
Department: Veterinary Pathobiology
Title: Assistant Professor of Veterinary Microbiology
Years at OSU: 3.5
Contact Info:
- Email or Zoom preferred.
- Email: Jennifer.rudd@okstate.edu
- Phone: (405) 744-5268
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Respiratory Infectious Disease: influenza, bovine respiratory disease, SARS-CoV-2, pulmonary coinfections (viral/bacterial)
- Innate immune responses and hyperinflammation in acute infectious disease
- Johne’s Disease in small ruminants
- Antimicrobial resistance and judicious antimicrobial usage programs in vet med
- Scholarship of teaching and learning
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- I am still considering a few angles for this summer pending how spring projects/grants go but would most likely have student involvement in a coinfection animal model of pneumonia or evaluating samples for phenotypic changes in innate immune cells in acute respiratory infections.
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Creativity
- Active engagement in discussion, ideas, and conversations about experimental design
- Willingness to work well with others and professionalism
- Willingness to do some reading, planning, preparing for the week
- Interest in infectious diseases
- Donald Ruhl Jr., Ph.D.
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Title: Assistant Professor
Years at OSU: 13
Contact Info:
- Phone: (405) 744-6409
- Email: donald.ruhl@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- The Ruhl lab studies epigenome changes in response to extracellular stimuli (ie. hormones, medications, heat) focusing on DNA structural changes and the associated proteins. Both human cancer cell (cervix, breast) models and a plant (wheat) model system are used to study these processes.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- Investigate changes to DNA structure in response to estrogen in human cells.
- Develop a method to purify proteins involved in epigenetic regulation of DNA structure.
- Determine the molecular interactions of epigenetic proteins with DNA.
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- The ideal student is one that is interested in research with a willingness to learn!
- Dr. Ruth Scimeca
Department: Veterinary Pathobiology
Title: Assistant professor, clinical parasitologist
Years at OSU: 8
Contact Info: ruth.scimeca@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Toxoplasmosis, Heartworm disease, Tick borne diseases, Development of parasitology diagnostic methods.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
- Toxoplasma gondii and rabies, is there a correlation?
- Detection of Dirofialiria spp. and Wolbachia sp. in dogs
- Detection of tick borne diseases in shelter dogs
- Cytokine response in dogs infected with Dirofilaria immitis
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Highly motivated/enthusiastic, ability to learn new techniques and apply them, able to work individually after training.
- Dr. Patrick R Stephens
Department: Integrative Biology
Title: Assistant Professor
Years at OSU: 1
Contact info: patrick.stephens@okstate.edu
Current research interest areas:
- Understanding large-scale disease dynamics, particularly the factors that drive outbreak risk and that have the potential to lead to epidemics and pandemics. In my lab, we use computational methods to build statistical models of outbreak risk factors. Current projects include exploring how eco-environmental and socioeconomic factors affect spillover and outbreak risk of Ebolavirus in sub-Saharan Africa, and exploring how armed conflicts can affect disease dynamics in general.
Titles of potential research projects for a summer research student:
-
Understanding the drivers of zoonotic vs endemic tuberculosis outbreaks
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Contrasting the drivers of hemorrhagic fever outbreaks of different pathogens in Africa
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Strong interest in learning computational skills such as data analysis and statistical modelling with R. At least basic knowledge of introductory statistics and hypothesis testing.
- Dr. Madhan Subramanian
Department: Physiological Sciences
Title: Assistant Professor
Years at OSU: 3
Contact Info: madhan.subramanian@okstate.edu
Current Research Interest Areas:
- Our research is to investigate the neural mechanisms of obesity and aging. To learn more about our research visit our lab page.
What qualities are you looking for in a summer research student?
- Interested in neuroscience