NEWS
OKLAHOMA CITY – Rodney Tweten, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the OU College of Medicine, has been selected as the University of Oklahoma’s recipient of the Faculty Achievement Award supported by the Southeastern Conference. Recipients from SEC institutions go on to compete for a national SEC Professor of the Year award.
“Dr. Rodney Tweten exemplifies the very highest standards of scholarly excellence and scientific impact,” said Gary E. Raskob, Ph.D., senior vice president and provost for the OU Health Campus. “Across four decades at the OU College of Medicine, his groundbreaking research, sustained NIH funding and commitment to translating discoveries from the laboratory toward patient care have made a lasting impact on human health and elevated the university’s national research profile.”
Tweten’s 40-year career with the college has focused on bacterial toxins and virulence factors in human diseases, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia. He developed a vaccine candidate to provide broad protection against pneumonia, and it was tested in a Phase 1 clinical trial beginning in 2023. In preclinical studies, the vaccine appeared to protect against most of the approximately 90 known variants of streptococcal pneumonia.
More recently, his laboratory has focused on a genus of bacteria called Bacteroides, which constitutes nearly 50% of the microbes living in the intestines. The bacteria are also fierce protectors of their own turf. They produce proteins called cholesterol-dependent cytolysin-like (CDCL) toxins that punch holes in rival bacteria. Tweten is studying CDCLs for their potential to kill the cells of deadly diseases.
During his time with the OU College of Medicine, Tweten has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health. He is one of only a handful of OU College of Medicine researchers to receive an NIH MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award, which provides long-term funding to superior researchers. He has published widely, including more than 20 publications in high-impact journals.
Last year, Tweten was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors a scientist can receive. He also received the inaugural Stanton L. Young Excellence in Research Award for his innovation and scientific rigor. He is a George Lynn Cross Professor of Research, a President’s Associates Presidential Professor, holds the Joseph J. Ferretti Endowed Chair and is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
For the full list of SEC Faculty Achievement Award Winners, visit secsports.com.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university with campuses in Norman, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. In Oklahoma City, the OU Health Campus is one of the nation’s few academic health centers with seven health profession colleges located on the same campus. The OU Health Campus serves approximately 4,000 students in more than 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs spanning Oklahoma City and Tulsa and is the leading research institution in Oklahoma. For more information about the OU Health Campus, visit www.ouhsc.edu.
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