"Another important area of development, which is of paramount importance, is the progress being made to establish a graduate program in biomedical sciences as a new program in the OSU Graduate School."
Two existing areas of expansion include the opening of a 20-man hypobaric chamber for research and training. The chamber is temporarily being housed on the Air Park Campus of Tulsa Technology Center and represents OSU-COM's contribution to the Tulsa Aviation Education Alliance, a confederation of programs related to aviation training and research from several northeast higher education campuses. OSU-COM has also established a growing relationship with Resuscitation Technologies, Inc. to aid in the development of new technologies for improved treatment of head trauma injuries.
Another important area of development, which is of paramount importance, is the progress being made to establish a graduate program in biomedical sciences as a new program in the OSU Graduate School. It is hoped that this program will open its door to students in 1996. This program will serve to stabilize the development of research programs on the OSU Tulsa campus as well as allow the campus to better serve as a catalyst for the development and expansion of biomedical industries and training in northeastern Oklahoma.
Research at OSU-COM, like any other medical school, falls within two general categories, clinical and basic sciences. The first of these, Clinical Research, has goals in the areas of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of various diseases of humans, as well as several focused programs in behavioral medicine. The second area, Biomedical or Basic Sciences Research involves faculty initiated research programs investigating health related issues using non-human models (i.e., animal and cell culture systems) in an effort to answer questions related to the basic mechanisms of cell-cell interactions, cell biology, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, and biochemistry.
Residents in all clinical departments are required to pursue some form of scholarly activity. Many of these physicians become involved in research projects overseen by faculty, ranging from new drug trials to the study of basic questions pertaining to various medical problems or diseases. An example of this type of project involves a third-year resident in ophthalmology, Dr. Michael Willman, who is working with Dr. Warren Finn (Physiology) on a project studying the basic mechanisms behind known causes of amblyopia.
The research program at OSU-COM actively encourages medical students to become involved in research. Programs range from original questions posed by the student to a simple involvement with ongoing research projects at OSU-COM. The Auxiliary to the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association sponsors a Student Research Fellowship Program, which rewards student interest and activity in clinical and basic research projects. Our hope is that programs such as this one will help our college train physician researchers for the future.
Other areas of interest include arthritis, alcoholism/alcohol metabolism, tumor immunology, reproductive endocrinology, renal physiology, and several studies relating to infectious diseases (i.e., immunology, virology, and bacteriology). Examples of externally funded projects includes a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study on the effectiveness and mechanism of action of various analgesic compounds using an amphibian (frog) model. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding a project that is studying neural control of renal function as it relates to sodium/potassium transport and acid/base balance.
Another NIH funded project is studying immunologic properties of small venom factors in snake venom. Other projects are looking at components of bacteria that can induce toxic shock, cytoskeletal changes in the cells of joints during the development of arthritis, and morphological changes in breast cancer.
OSU-COM has recently brought on-line a hypobaric chamber, provided by the U.S. Air Force, which will serve as a new core facility. It will be used to provide hypobaric testing for pilots in the armed forces and private airlines as well as a research tool to attract research dollars in the aviation health sciences. Another core laboratory maintained by OSU-COM is an Electron Microscopy Core Laboratory, which supports faculty research and is available for contract work with outside programs.
OSU-COM is also expanding its horizons via collaborations with scientists at Tulsa University and the H.A. Chapman Institute for Human Genetics. Four scientists at the Chapman Institute have been given adjunct faculty status in our Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology and have received graduate faculty status at OSU. These actions all represent additional steps by OSU-COM to become the hub for biomedical research in northeastern Oklahoma and the Tulsa metropolitan area.
In an increasingly competitive market for funds to perform research, the program at OSU-COM has been able to continue its slow but steady growth, contributing to the academic environment of OSU-COM and also making contributions that should ultimately improve the quality of life for the citizens of Oklahoma. It is hoped that as our project continues to grow through the addition of new research faculty and programs that the OSU-COM campus will become a resource for the foundation for northeast Oklahoma's growth and expansion of health related industries and technologies.
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