Current Labs

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Associate Member of the Stephenson Cancer Center. Dr. Clegg is an expert in the synthesis and of soft biomaterials that complex, stabilize, and deliver macromolecular therapeutics. The Clegg Lab investigates biomaterials for drug delivery and immuno-engineering. The lab is developing injectable gels that alter the inflammatory state of tissue-resident immune cells for the treatment of cancer and traumatic brain injuries. We are also interested in using drug delivery systems to drive a therapeutic phenotype in donor cell-based therapies. Our current efforts in this area focus on drug delivering microparticles that polarize adoptive macrophages in vivo.

My group studies the fundamental processes controlling carbon and nitrogen cycling in soil, litter, and streams within both natural and managed ecosystems. Much of our recent work focusses on soil dynamics within intensively managed landscapes stretching from the coastal irrigated deserts in Peru, to the plains of Northeast China, to the agricultural fields of the glaciated Midwest of the United States. A primary goal of this work is to develop a stronger scientific basis for modeling soil organic matter dynamics, ecosystem and critical zone processes, and the global carbon cycle with an emphasis on how perturbations to ecosystems (e.g., woody plant encroachment, fire, agriculture, invasive species, storm events) influence soil properties to sequester or release carbon and nitrogen. Our biogeochemistry studies utilize a variety of analytical approaches, including organic geochemistry, microbial activity assays, and stable isotope techniques integrated with remote sensing.

I am the inaugural director for the Institute for Resilient Environmental and Energy Systems in the OU Office of Vice President for Research and Partnerships 

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Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Co-director at the University of Oklahoma's Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research. Dr. Hofman’s research integrates interdisciplinary methods and fields, including genomics, ancient DNA, proteomics, and archaeology to explore human-environment interactions on two very different scales. First, she investigates human-wildlife interactions and their influence on changing environments over the past millennia to inform conservation decisions. Second, Dr. Hofman conducts research on the evolution of the human microbiome, especially with respect to how significant cultural changes (ie agriculture, industrialization, etc.) impact the microbiome. Dr. Hofman is also research associate at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. 

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Yijie Jiang is an Assistant Professor in the School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics from the University of Pennsylvania in 2017. Before joining OU, Dr. Jiang worked as an assistant professor at the University of North Texas and as a postdoctoral researcher in Architected Materials Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include biomechanical engineering of auditory system, advanced manufacturing of sustainable and functional micro/nanocomposites, structural designs and finite element simulations.

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The overall mission of Dr. Jo’s research program is to develop optical sensing and imaging technologies that will impact how we: (1) study pathophysiological mechanisms underlying major human diseases; and (2) clinically manage patients suffering from these conditions. While most academic labs in the field of biomedical imaging focus on either instrumentation development or computational imaging science, Dr. Jo leads a very unique research program dedicated to address major unmet needs in both biomedical research and clinical practice through the design, development, and validation of both optical imaging/sensing instrumentation and computational methods for the nondestructive, non or minimally invasive morphological, molecular and physiological characterization of biological and engineered tissues at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Dr. Jo’s research program is currently being funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH: NCI, NHLBI), the American Heart Association (AHA), the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), and the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF).

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The Karr lab is interested in the regulation of gene expression in microorganisms. Gene expression is of integral importance in biological systems and is regulated by a variety of mechanisms. The Karr lab uses a variety of microbiological, biochemical and structural approaches to unravel regulatory mechanisms in medically and environmentally important organisms. 

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Associate Professor of Anthropology, Co-Director of the Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR). Dr. Kemp uses genetic data to address questions about the entrance of humans into the Americas and the ensuing ~15,000 years of prehistory that are not approachable from culture history alone.  Research topics include: Molecular Anthropology; Ancient DNA; Forensic DNA; Native American Prehistory; Turkey Domestication; Molecular Species Identification (DNA Barcoding); Advancing Methods for the Study of Low Copy Number and Degraded DNA Samples

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Associate Professor of Biology and Faculty of the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology. Dr. Lemon’s lab studies the organization of the mammalian brain and nervous system with a focus on sensory systems. Current projects use neurophysiological, molecular, optogenetic, computational, and behavioral approaches to explore the biological basis of temperature sensation and taste. Both of these sensory modalities drive survival behaviors in diverse animals and are evidenced to engage common homeostatic neural circuits in the brain. The lab’s research is funded by the NIH and has implications for understanding how changes in sensory processing may arise and participate in disease states, such as ingestive disorders, and for developing therapeutic targets.

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Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. 

Prior to joining OU, Dr. Ling was an Assistant and then Associate Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His current research focuses on developing high-performance optical imaging and visualization platforms for medical applications by integrating advanced computational techniques such as optimization and machine learning. Specifically, he is interested in the imaging theory, system design, and translational application of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and computer-generated holography (CGH).

He and his students have received numerous international recognitions, including Outstanding Reviewer Recognition by Optica Publishing Group, Optica Women Scholar, Best Paper Award in SPIE Photonics West 2024 Conference Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells XXXV, and Image Processing Student Paper Award in SPIE Medical Imaging 2022.

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Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Yuchen Qiu received his B.E. and M.E. in Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University, P. R. China, in 2005 and 2008 respectively. From 2008 to 2013, he received his Ph.D. training in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) from the University of Oklahoma. His research interest is mainly focused on Quantitative Image Analysis, including the development of computer aided diagnosis/detection schemes for the early symptom identification or early therapy response assessment of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and other diseases.

Dr. Yuchen Qiu is a member of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Research interests are Radiomics, Artificial intelligence in medical image analysis, Computer aided therapy response evaluation.

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Professor at Department of Botany and Microbiology and Center for Spatial Analysis. The Earth Observation and Modeling Facility (EOMF) focuses on geospatial science and technology (remote sensing, global positioning system, geographical information sysetm) and its applications in natural resources, agriculture, forestry, rangeland, biodiverity, ecology, climate, geography, land use and land cover change, and animal and human health. The EOMF hosts global satellite image data to support research and education in monitoring, diagnosis and forecasting of the biosphere in our planet Earth. 

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The long-term goal of Yoon lab is to utilize engineering principles to develop novel technologies and approaches to better understand the biological processes that advance disease diagnosis and treatment. Yoon laboratory addresses challenging biological questions through multidisciplinary approaches and collaboration in a culture focused on mentoring and training the future engineering workforce. Toward that goal, Yoon lab develops the next generation non-invasive imaging technique to realize longitudinal tracking of various types of cells at single-cell resolution at depth that can directly answer many unknown biological processes such as immune suppression in tumor microenvironment and autoimmune response from host after the transplantation of insulin-producing cells. We develop the next generation intracellular delivery device to engineer immune cells for immunotherapy.  

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Zhao specializes in chemical, fluorescence, and fiber-optic microscopy imaging for biomedical applications. The Zhao Lab focuses on developing molecular spectroscopic imaging methods to investigate important biomedical questions. Our research is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on expertise from optical physics, electrical engineering, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Methodologically, we aim to develop optical imaging platforms that enable the observation, quantification, and analysis of biological systems with molecular specificity at the single-cell, tissue, and model-animal levels. To this end, we are building optical microscopy and endoscopy instrumentation that integrates custom optical setups and imaging algorithms. On the application side, our work seeks to elucidate disease mechanisms, identify novel disease biomarkers, and explore new therapeutic avenues, with a particular emphasis on cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.

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Presidential Professor, Department of Botany and Microbiology, Institute for Environmental Genomics. Dr. Zhou is a distinguished R&D staff scientist in microbial genomics and ecology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. He and his research group are joining OU at the Stephenson Research and Technology Center to form the new Institute for Environmental Genomics. Dr. Zhou is an international research leader in functional genomics analyses of microbial stress responses, energy metabolism, and regulatory networks in several environmentally important microorganisms.

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Charles E. Foster Chair in Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Adjunct Professor of Physiology. The research activities in Dr. Gan’s Biomedical Engineering Lab are centered on basic research to understand structures and functions of living systems and applied research to develop new and improved devices and products for medicine and biology. Her current research projects include measurement of sound transmission in normal, diseased, and implanted ears, computational modeling of auditory system, design of implantable hearing devices, and biomechanics of tissues and organs.

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