In medicine, moving a breakthrough from the lab to the doctor’s office often involves navigating a dizzying maze of bureaucratic and financial obstacles. Most health care startups – 90% by some estimates – fail to find a path to profitability. But one Oklahoma City-based company is poised to become an exception. Fourteen years after its founding, Moleculera Biosciences is emerging from the startup labyrinth.

The Univeristy of Oklahoma College of Medicine is pleased to announce the appointment of Irene Alexandraki, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, MBA, FACP, as the Inaugural Vice Dean of Education at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, effective July 2025, pending OU Regents’ approval.  Alexandraki will also work closely with the OU School of Community Medicine. 

Ana J. Chucair-Elliott, Ph.D., an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and research member of Dean McGee Eye Institute, has been funded by the BrightFocus Foundation to investigate how aging, diet and inflammation contribute to retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) degeneration, a deterioration of the layer of cells in the back of the eye.

After a decade of service to OU, Dr. James M. Herman recently shared his intent to retire at the end of June.

University of Oklahoma researchers have discovered that some bacteria in the gut have their own unique “weapon system” to compete against other bacteria for dominance. Importantly, there is promising evidence that this system can be repurposed to target diseased cells like cancer.