Large Research Programs & Facilities

OU Medicine scientists have devoted their lives to deciphering the mysteries of human disease that hold great potential for discovery.

Hundreds of research projects are underway on the OU Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) campus at any given time. Faculty and students within each college are active in projects that have both scientific and clinical applications.

Areas of research range from the general to the specific and virtually all hold great applicability to large groups of people.

OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center

The mission of OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center is to promote, coordinate and support cancer research and care at OUHSC and its sister institutions. Research areas include women's cancers, basic cancer research, cancer chemoprevention and community cancer health disparities, especially among Oklahoma's diverse Native American populations. All members of the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center share a common goal: reducing the incidence of cancer and the morbidity and mortality caused by cancer in Oklahoma and beyond.

Harold Hamm Diabetes Center

The mission of the OU Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center is to promote clinical and basic sciences research related to diabetes and its complications, education of the public and professionals in all matters related to diabetes, including diabetes prevention, and optimal diabetes care for the people of Oklahoma.

Dean McGee Eye Institute

The Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI) is dedicated to serving all Oklahomans and the global community through excellence and leadership in patient care, education and vision research. For more than 25 years, DMEI, in affiliation with the OU Department of Ophthalmology, has been a leader in the field of vision research. Our National Institutes of Health grant-funded researchers are on the cutting-edge of scientific investigation into the underlying causes of blinding diseases, and the promising treatments that are being developed. At any given time, DMEI/OU is involved in a number of vision research projects, seeking, testing, and refining the latest treatments and cures for a broad spectrum of vision-related illnesses. DMEI/OU is ranked among the country’s top 20 departments in National Institutes of Health funding (top 10 among public universities) and is 14^th in the nation (eighth among public universities) in cumulative funding from Research to Prevent Blindness.

Additional Programs

The Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging

The mission of the Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging is to provide a transformational approach to understanding and treating complex age-related diseases through state-of-the-art scientific research. The Center is focused on three areas: 1. Understanding the cellular mechanisms and developing treatments for age-related cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease, 2. Investigating the developmental origins of late-life disease, and 3. Developing interventions to promote healthy aging.

The Center on Child Abuse and Neglect

The purpose of The Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN) is to organize the Health Sciences Center's efforts in the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect. CCAN is a university-based, center that directs research, professional and public education, clinical services, and administrative programs in the field of child maltreatment.

Comprehensive Oklahoma Program for Epilepsy

The Comprehensive Oklahoma Program for Epilepsy (COPE) is a multi-disciplinary organization which aims to provide comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for epilepsy patients.

OU Family Medicine Resident Research Opportunities

Residents have access to faculty experience in performing and reviewing research, statisticians, grant writers and physicians in the community who perform research as part of their practice. We have a practice-based research network that is actively researching and answering questions that commonly come up in practice settings.

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) is a private, non-profit biomedical research institution located in the heart of the Oklahoma Health Center. OMRF scientists work at the molecular level to understand and find treatments for a range of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, arthritis, lupus and AIDS.