College News

The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine has named Kelly Stratton, M.D., FACS, as associate dean for veterans affairs, pending approval by the OU Board of Regents.

A newly approved National Cancer Institute-funded clinical trial aims to improve survival for head and neck cancer patients whose disease returns after radiation therapy – a setback that affects up to 40% of patients and is often associated with poor outcomes.

Abdul Rafeh Naqash, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and senior associate director of AI and Data Science at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, has been awarded the 2026 Young Physician-Scientist Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI).

Children born to mothers who consume a high-fat, high-sugar diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding face a higher risk of developing fatty liver disease later in life. New research from the University of Oklahoma suggests that risk may be reduced: A study found that supplementing pregnant and lactating mice with a naturally occurring compound produced by healthy gut bacteria significantly lowered rates of fatty liver disease in their offspring as they aged.

Results of a Phase III clinical trial published recently in The Lancet show that oropharyngeal cancer patients receiving proton therapy kept their cancer under control just as well as patients receiving traditional radiation therapy, or photon therapy. Importantly, patients treated with proton therapy were more likely to be alive at the five-year mark of the study and suffered fewer side effects than those receiving photon therapy. The trial is considered the largest of its kind to compare the treatments.