NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – The University of Oklahoma has announced Wei R. Chen, Ph.D., as director of the Peggy and Charles Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME). He has served as Stephenson Chair and professor of SBME and became its interim director last year.
“Dr. Chen is a leader in both biomedical engineering and our OU community, and we’re pleased to have him guide our Stephenson School as it enters its next decade,” said John Klier, Ph.D., dean of the Gallogly College of Engineering.
Under Chen’s leadership, the school will continue its transformational work in health care education and research. SBME was founded in 2016 and welcomed its 10th undergraduate class this fall. Before joining the University of Oklahoma in 2020, Chen served as professor of biomedical engineering and dean of the College of Mathematics and Science at the University of Central Oklahoma.
His contributions toward cutting-edge cancer research, including the treatment of late-stage, metastatic cancers and the mechanisms behind antitumor immune responses, earned him the title of Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors last year. Chen has also received numerous other awards and honors, including Fellow of the International Society for Optics and Photonics and Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
The University of Oklahoma Honors College hosted its 38th annual Undergraduate Research Day on April 16 in the Thurman J. White Forum Building. Over 300 people attended, and 175 students presented their posters and projects to visitors, faculty members, judges and peers.
The Collaborative Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership offers emerging leaders across Oklahoma’s PK–12 public education system a doctoral experience designed to be as relevant as it is rigorous.
A study published today in PLOS Medicine has identified two new genetic pathways that contribute to cardiometabolic disease, which includes heart disease, obesity and diabetes. The research, led by Dharambir Sanghera, Ph.D., of the University of Oklahoma, represents a step toward targeting the diseases more precisely.
