NEWS
NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma has been recognized by the Fulbright Program for its academic excellence and impactful contributions to international education and research, with its Health Campus earning the university recognition as a “Top Producer” of Fulbright U.S. Scholars. The OU Health Campus tied for the most Scholars nationally among institutions in the “Special Focus: Technology, Engineering & Sciences, Medical & Health” category.
This year, four OU faculty members and three students received Fulbright awards to expand their research and education globally.
Top producers, which include some of the nation’s most highly regarded higher education institutions, are those with the most candidates selected for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program during an academic year. This year, 25 institutions within five distinct categories were named top producers of Fulbright U.S. Scholars.
“This recognition reflects the longstanding academic excellence and global perspective of our faculty and students,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “Our Fulbright recipients are bold thinkers who are eager to contribute to learning around the world. We are proud to see their work recognized and are excited to witness the impact they will continue to make around the world.”
The two scholars selected from the OU Health Campus are Motolani Adedipe, Ph.D., and A.F. Alassaf, M.D., MPH. The scholars from the Norman campus are Dustin Condren, Ph.D. and Hayley Lanier, Ph.D.
Adedipe, an associate professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the OU College of Medicine, received a Fulbright award to go to South Korea through the United States-Korea Presidential STEM Initiative. Her project focuses on improving the quality of life of prostate cancer survivors. While abroad, she will also lecture at the Seoul National University's College of Medicine.
Alassaf, a Distinguished Regents and Presidential Professor Emeritus, will use his Fulbright to travel to Cairo, Egypt, where he will teach and supervise master’s and doctoral students at Ain Shams University Medical School on health care and medical quality research. He also plans to develop continuing education and post-doctorate certification programs in the same areas, as well as in risk management, accreditation and clinical performance improvement.
Condren is an associate professor in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences. He received an award to attend Film University Babelsberg, Germany’s premier institution for film studies and home to the historic Babelsberg Film Studios, one of Europe’s oldest cinematic centers. His project is comprised of archival research focusing on a unique collection of Soviet films from the 1920s and 1930s, which are preserved as part of Germany’s historical ties with the former Soviet Union.
Lanier, an associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences and associate curator of mammalogy at the Sam Noble Museum, received the award to conduct evolutionary genomics research in the Czech Republic. Her work includes collaborating with researchers at the Czech Academy of Sciences, deepening a partnership with scientists whose work closely aligns with her own.
Three recent OU graduates were also named Fulbright U.S. Student recipients in 2025-26. Chloe Gardner and P.K. Kaya received awards to serve as English teaching assistants in Thuringia, Germany and Luxembourg, respectively. Jada Phelps received a fellowship to complete a master’s program in the Netherlands.
Fulbright alumni work to make a positive impact on their communities, sectors and the world and have included 44 heads of state or government, 63 Nobel Laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners, 83 MacArthur Fellows, and countless leaders across all sectors and industries across the United States and world. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit fulbrightprogram.org.
About the Fulbright Program
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided nearly 450,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals, of all backgrounds and in all fields, the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
The University of Oklahoma has been recognized by the Fulbright Program for its academic excellence and impactful contributions to international education and research, with its Health Campus earning the university recognition as a “Top Producer” of Fulbright U.S. Scholars.
In a study published in the journal Communications Engineering, Chongle Pan, an OU professor of computer science and biomedical engineering, and Penghua Wang, a doctoral student in data science and analytics, detail a machine learning model that dramatically accelerates the manufacturing timeline of monoclonal antibodies.
University of Oklahoma researchers have created a new drug delivery system that helps cancer cells take in much more of a treatment, improving its ability to kill tumors. “The delivery system is like a Trojan horse,” said Joshua Seaberg, Ph.D., the doctoral student who created the system.
