SAB NewsThe 2008 SAB Steering Committee MembersPosted 3/7/2008 We would like to announce our new panel of 2008 Steering Committee Members of The Science Advisory Board: Professor Juergen Reichardt, Ph.D., Plunkett Chair of Molecular Biology (Medicine) of the University of Sydney, Australia; Zabta Shinwari, Ph.D., Chief Executive of Qarshi Research International and Vice Chancellor/Project Director of Qarshi University, Pakistan; Robert Matthews, Ph.D., President of Quasar, USA; Doncho Donev, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Institute of Social Medicine, Skopje University, Macedonia; Hari M. Saxena, Ph.D., Professor of Immunology and Head of the Veterinary Microbiology Department, GADVASU, India; Marc Twagirumukiza, M.D., Assistant Lecturer & Researcher, National University of Rwanda, Rwanda and Physician & Ph.D. candidate, Ghent University, Belgium; Yuriy Gusev, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics, University of Oklahoma HSC, USA; and G.D. Heda, Ph.D., Staff Scientist, VA Medical Center, Asst. Professor of Genetics, UTHSC, USA. For complete biographies of each of our Steering Committee members, please click here. Doncho M. Donev, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Doncho M. Donev received his M.D. at the St. Cyril and Methodius University Medical Faculty in Skopje, Macedonia, in 1973, where he also completed his specialization in social medicine in 1981. From 1983-1985 he completed his postgraduate studies in social medicine in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and later received his Ph.D. at Skopje University's Medical Faculty in 1993. He pursued his postdoctoral studies in public health (Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program) at Emory University School of Public Health in Atlanta, GA, USA, in 1993-1994. Since 2003 he has been a full-time Professor and Director of Social Medicine at Skopje University's Medical Faculty. Yuriy Gusev, Ph.D. Dr. Yuriy Gusev is an Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Breast Health Institute. He is also an associate member of the University of Oklahoma Cancer Institute where he is involved with the Cancer Biology Program (translational research with animal tumor models) and the Southwest Program for Pancreatic Cancer. He has 15 years of interdisciplinary research experience in US academic and industry laboratories, in the areas of mathematical and systems biology, bioinformatics, and cancer research. Gusev obtained his MS degree in Applied Mathematics with a concentration in Mathematical Biology at St. Petersburg State University, Russia and his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Biology from the Central Research Institute of Roentgenology & Radiology, St. Petersburg, Russia. He has over 40 peer-reviewed publications on genomics, proteomics, and systems biology of human cancers including gene and microRNA expression profiling, mathematical modeling, computer simulation in cancer cell biology, and image analysis of cancer biomarkers. G.D. Heda, Ph.D. G.D. Heda, Ph.D, is currently a Research Biologist at the V.A. Medical Center, and has a joint faculty appointment with the department of medicine at the University of Tenneesee Health Sciences Center, USA. Heda's research career spans over 25 years of working in academic, industrial, and government settings. After completing his Ph.D. in plant genetics from Osmania University, India, he pursued a Post-doctoral fellowship at Northwestern University Medical School, USA. This was his first experience working with mammalian systems, in which he purified alpha-amylase from the rat pancreas. He joined the microbiology department of Southern Illinois University in 1984 to work on enzymology and protein biochemistry using thermophylic bacterial systems. In 1987, he moved to the Temple University School of Medicine, as a Research Assistant Professor working on the aspects of Thrombosis. Hari M. Saxena, Ph.D. Dr. Hari M. Saxena is a Professor of Immunology and Head of the Veterinary Microbiology Department at the College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), India. Previously, he served on a diplomatic assignment as Counselor (Ministry of Science & Technology) at the Embassy of India in Moscow, Russia. He received his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Nottingham, UK and has studied Immunology at the University of Cambridge, UK and at the University of Tokyo, Japan. Saxena is a member of the Indian Society for Veterinary Immunology & Biotechnology (ISVIB), of which he was President for two years, and is an Executive Member of the Society for Immunology and Immunopathology. Juergen Reichardt, Ph.D. Professor Juergen Reichardt is a human molecular biologist, geneticist and biochemist with epidemiologic interests. In general terms, he aims to understand how the genome - in conjunction with the environment - produces the multitude of human phenotypes. To this end, he has chosen a “candidate gene” approach for selected phenotypes of interest. These choices were dictated by his training as a biochemist, molecular biologist and geneticist with a focus on metabolic pathways and common diseases. Reichardt has extensive molecular biology and molecular epidemiologic experience in the area of identification and characterization of disease-causing mutations in metabolic genes. Most relevant here are his efforts on galactosemia in the past and currently on the SRD5A2 gene, encoding the steroid 5alpha-reductase type II, and prostate cancer. Zabta Shinwari, Ph.D. Dr. Zabta Shinwari currently serves as Vice Chancellor to Qarshi University, Pakistan, and as Chief Executive to Qarshi Research International. Shinwari received his Ph.D. in molecular systematics from Kyoto University, Japan, (1994) and pursued his post-doctoral fellowship at Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) (1994-1998). He later received two additional fellowships with JIRCAS (1999 and 2001). Shinwari's principal areas of interest are the advancement of educational facilities and the development of sustainable agriculture. He contributed to the creation of new educational institutions in Pakistan, and the addition of new science facilities to existing institutions. His efforts in botany research have contributed to the education and training of inhabitants in under-developed areas in crop growth and sustainability. Robert Matthews, Ph.D. Dr. Robert Matthews, Ph.D. is President of QUASAR (Quantum Applied Science and Research) in San Diego, CA, USA. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Western Australia, and is currently the leader of QUASAR’s biosensor development program. He leads the development of bio and medical applications, and has been responsible for all clinical trials and technology demonstrations of the company's biosensing devices. Matthews is an Executive Board member of the Augmented Condition Society and also belongs to the Human Factor Ergonomic Society. Marc Twagirumukiza, M.D. Marc Twagirumukiza, M.D., is currently a physician and a PhD Candidate in clinical pharmacology at Ghent University, Belgium. He’s also an assistant lecturer and researcher at Faculty of Medicine, National University of Rwanda. His principal area of interest is clinical pharmacology, focusing on drugs used in non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular diseases in particular (hypertension and arterial stiffness with a focus on pulse wave analysis). He has also worked in other general cardiology fields. Twagirumukiza is also interested in public health; he has conducted surveys in the fields of epidemiology, HIV/AIDS, and clinical sciences. Since 2000, he has been involved in many research studies in HIV/AIDS strategic framework development, monitoring and evaluation of HIV/AIDS programs, and youth reproductive health and behavioral changes. |
|