Department News
2025 Outstanding Educator from the College of American Pathologists Awarded
Cindy McCloskey, MD, has received the 2025 Outstanding Educator Award from the College of American Pathologists (https://www.cap.org/member-resources/awards/2025-meritorious-service-awards-honorees/2025-cap-outstanding-educator-award).
Recall that earlier this summer, Dr. McCloskey received another national honor, the Margaret Grimes Distinguished Achievement Award in Graduate Medical Education, from the Association for Academic Pathology.
Dr. McCloskey is professor of pathology and adjunct professor of internal medicine. She holds the University's President’s Associates Presidential Professorship.
From 2021–2025, Dr. McCloskey chaired the ACGME Pathology Review Committee, which has oversight of all pathology residency training programs in the US.
She also chaired the Graduation Medical Education Committee of the College of American Pathologists, from 2020–2023. Notably, Dr. McCloskey has played a lead role in the development of entrustable professional activities for pathology residents.
Dr. McCloskey previously served as director of our residency program and assistant dean for GME of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. A member of the College's Jerry Vannatta, MD, Academy of Teaching Scholars, Dr. McCloskey has received its Dewayne Andrews, MD, Excellence in Teaching Award for Graduate Medical Education.
A board-certified clinical pathologist, medical microbiologist, and molecular genetic pathologist, Dr. McCloskey is vice-chief of pathology and medical director of the main lab at OU Health. She also directs our clinical pathology division and the clinical microbiology and virology laboratories.
Congratulations to Dr. McCloskey!
posted September 18, 2025
Marisol Castillo-Castrejon, PhD Selected for Prestigious Course
We're proud to share that Marisol Castillo-Castrejon, PhD has been selected to attend the NIA Experimental Aging Research Training Course at the Buck Institute this September. This prestigious program, hosted by the National Institute on Aging, welcomes only around 20 participants nationwide each year.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Castillo-Castrejon on this outstanding achievement and opportunity in geroscience research!
posted September 18, 2025
Priyabrata “Priyo” Mukherjee, PhD Elected to the Indian National Science Academy
Priyabrata “Priyo” Mukherjee, PhD, professor of pathology and the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Endowed Chair in Cancer Laboratory Research, has been elected as a foreign fellow of the Indian National Science Academy. The INSA is India’s premier scientific society, analogous to the U.S. National Academies. Dr. Mukherjee is one of only 12 foreign fellows elected this year.
The Senior Director for Research Collaborations and Partnerships at the Stephenson Cancer Center, Dr. Mukherjee also co-directs the SCC's Nanomedicine Program.
An internationally recognized scientist in nanomedicine and cancer biology, Dr. Mukherjee has pioneered the use of nanomaterials to 1) elucidate cancer cell and molecular biology and 2) develop targeted drug delivery systems, among other discoveries, as cited by the INSA:
Priyabrata Mukherjee has made significant contributions in the realm of cancer research. His work primarily focuses on the tumor microenvironment and the interactions between proteins and nanoparticles, which have implications for angiogenesis-dependent disorders and targeted cancer therapies. Mukherjee has pioneered research into how cancer cells rewire their metabolic pathways, enhancing lipid biogenesis and utilization to survive under stressful conditions like hypoxia and cytotoxic insults. A notable achievement in his research is the discovery of the role of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in inducing a hibernation-like state in mice, protecting them from hypoxic injury. His team also demonstrated that the loss of H2S synthesizing enzymes, such as CBS, increases bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics and that CBS deficiency leads to abnormal lipid metabolism and reduced body mass in mice. In 2013, Mukherjee and his team elucidated the pathological role of CBS in ovarian cancer. https://insaindia.res.in/recent-elected-fellows/
Dr. Mukherjee is also an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is a Presbyterian Health Foundation Presidential Professor and a recipient of the Fred G. Silva Award.
Congratulations to Dr. Mukherjee for this huge honor!
posted September 18, 2025
Rajagopal Ramesh, PhD, Awarded Five Year Grant from NCI
Dr. Rajagopal Ramesh, professor of pathology, has been awarded a five year grant for "Cancer Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in Oklahoma" from the National Cancer Institute.
The objective is to build the next generation of professionals and meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. To achieve this goal, the "Cancer Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) program in Oklahoma aims at producing a cadre of students equipped with training in cancer research that renders them able to matriculate into graduate or professional school.
The 10-week summer program will provide high-quality research training experience to 15 undergraduate students per year nationwide in cancer related-research. Participants will engage in cutting-edge research under the mentorship of OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center faculties performing basic-, prevention, translational-, clinical-, behavioral science- or community engaged-cancer research.
Additionally, the students will participate in a structured and rigorous educational curriculum that includes seminars, career guidance, research ethics, effective writing and communication skills, poster and oral presentation skills, peer-to-peer mentoring, and assistance in writing applications to graduate and professional schools. The CURE program will help the students become highly competitive for entering into graduate or professional schools.
(Note: This is a summer program that provides a stipend of $6000 per student and $1000 per student for housing.)
posted August 1, 2025
PhD Candidate, Alex Arreola, Awarded Predoctoral to Postdoctal Fellow Transition Award
Alex Arreola, PhD Candidate in the lab of Dr. Min Li, has been awarded the NCI F99/K00 Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award for his project "Evaluating the role of the tumor macroenvironment in cancer cachexia".
This award supports Ph.D. candidates in completing their dissertation research training (F99 phase) and transitioning into a mentored, cancer-focused postdoctoral research position (K00 phase). During the F99 phase, Alex will conclude his dissertation research focused on how pancreatic tumors influence the nervous system to drive cancer cachexia—a debilitating condition characterized by severe muscle and fat loss. In the K00 phase, he will expand this work by investigating how the liver, a key metabolic organ and common site of pancreatic cancer metastasis, contributes to this syndrome.
Together, these studies aim to provide a more holistic understanding of cancer cachexia by examining how tumors interact with their macroenvironment—the broader network of organs and systems they influence. By studying these tumor-host interactions, Alex's goal is to reveal new therapeutic targets capable of improving treatment outcomes and quality of life of cancer patients suffering from cachexia.
posted August 1, 2025
Cindy McCloskey, MD, Receives AAPath's Margaret Grimes Award
Dr. Cindy McCloskey, professor of pathology, has received the Margaret Grimes Distinguished Achievement Award in Graduate Medical Education from the Association for Academic Pathology. A national leader in the education of pathology residents, Dr. McCloskey previously served as assistant dean for graduate medical education of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.
From 2021–2025, Dr. McCloskey chaired the ACGME Pathology Review Committee, which has oversight of all pathology residency training programs in the US. She also chaired the Graduation Medical Education Committee of the College of American Pathologists. Her scholarly work includes the development of entrustable professional activities for trainees.
A member of the College's Jerry Vannatta, MD, Academy of Teaching Scholars, Dr. McCloskey has received its Dewayne Andrews, MD, Excellence in Teaching Award for Graduate Medical Education. She holds the University’s President’s Associates Presidential Professorship.
At OU Health, Dr. McCloskey is the vice-chief of laboratory services and the medical director of the main laboratory. She is a board-certified clinical pathologist, medical microbiologist, and molecular genetic pathologist.
posted May 6, 2025