Meet The Team
We are here to help support surgeons so they can focus on their work at the bench and bedside by offering the following services.
Katherine Morris, M.D., FACS – Dr. Morris is a funded surgeon-scientist who leads a team of translational scientists seeking to span the gap between the laboratory and patient care. She is available for consultation regarding project development, strategic career development, collaborations and manuscript presentation.
Min Li, Ph.D. – Dr. Li is a well-funded basic/translational research scientist who focuses on the biology and developmental therapeutics of gastrointestinal cancers and brain tumors. He is available for consultation regarding project design, strategic career development, collaborations, grant writing and manuscript preparations.
Lacey McNally, Ph.D. – Dr. McNally has experience in clinical collaborations, grant writing and reviewing, and project development. She has mentored medical residents/fellows and multiple clinicians in research and NIH proposal writing. Her research focuses on novel cancer diagnostics and imaging technology with the goal of rapid translation to clinical care for patients with solid tumors, i.e. pancreas, breast and ovarian cancers
William Berry, Ph.D. – Dr. Berry has a wealth of expertise in animal model development and genetic engineering techniques. He is available to discuss translational project development and grant applications.
Outcomes Research
Tabitha Garwe, MPH, Ph.D. – Dr. Garwe, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology, leads the Outcomes Research section of OU CARES. She has extensive experience in conducting clinical epidemiologic research. She enjoys designing and conducting studies with a particular emphasis on the innovative application of epidemiologic and statistical methods to complex clinical questions. She and her team (Dr. Kenneth Stewart and Dr. Zoona Sarwar) are available for consultation regarding outcomes research study design, statistical analysis planning and execution, and manuscript preparation.
Kenneth Stewart, MPH, Ph.D. – Dr. Stewart is an Assistant Professor of Research and has extensive experience working in public health and clinical trials. He particularly enjoys assisting with study design and analyzing large, complex datasets.
Zoona Sarwar, MBBS, MS – Dr. Sarwar is an epidemiologist with particular expertise in rapid descriptive analyses and complex multivariable regression analyses. She enjoys challenging questions and getting new insights from complex datasets.
Regulatory Compliance, and Clinical Trial Support
Theresa Lander, Research Regulatory Specialist III – Ms. Lander has extensive experience in research regulatory support and interfacing with the Office of Research Administration and the IRB. She is available for assistance with online IRB applications (iRIS) and the OUHSC grants and contracts software (SoonerTrack).
Stephanie Mitchell, RN, Clinical Trials Research Nurse - Ms. Mitchell has over 20 years of experience as a Research RN in surgery and gastrointestinal research combined, in both inpatient and outpatient protocols. She has extensive experience in research compliance, consenting patients, collecting data and maintaining documentation, performing blood draws and processing specimens.
David Alexander, LPN, Clinical Trials Research Nurse - David has over 20 years of experience as a Research LPN in Cardiovascular, Peripheral Vascular and Dermatology trials. He has worked on both inpatient and outpatient protocols and has extensive experience in research compliance, informed consent for research, collecting data, maintaining documentation, performing blood draws and processing specimens.
Asaleigh Cline, Medical Student Research Coordinator and Regulatory Specialist - Ms. Cline has experience with the medical students and onboarding process as well as regulatory support and compliance. Her services include onboarding new students, guiding faculty in required trainings, submission of new investgator initiated and industry trials, and trouble shooting or facilitating any assistance needed.
Specimen Handling/Storage, Immunohistochemistry, and Figure Generation Support
Megan Lerner, HT (ASCP) – Ms. Lerner has years of experience working with the Department of Surgery and has extensive contacts with other scientists on campus. As a histology technician, she is available to assist with specimen handling, processing, embedding and preparation of sections from paraffin or frozen tissues for routine, special stains, and immunohistochemistry. Support for generation of publication-ready images are also available with the Leica DM500 Brightfield Microscope.