Former CCEW Inventors
Fall of 2008 Inventors
Doris Benbrook
The much lesser known but life-threatening Polycystic Kidney Disease – manifested by multiple cysts on the kidneys that grow and multiply over time, ultimately causing renal shut-down – strikes more than 600,000 Americans and an estimated 12.5 million people worldwide. Currently, dialysis and transplantation currently are the only forms of treatment.
Doris Benbrook, professor and director of research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the OU Health Sciences Center, leads a team of scientists that has developed a synthetic Vitamin A retinoid compound that induces potent apoptosis, a natural form of cell suicide in cancer cells, but that, unlike current cancer therapies, is not toxic to healthy cells.
Mary John O'Hair
Dr. Mary John O'Hair is Vice Provost for School and Community Partnerships at the University of Oklahoma. In addition, Dr. O'Hair is founding director of the University of Oklahoma's K20 Center which serves as a statewide, interdisciplinary educational research and development center and a conduit between university and industry researchers and over 500 schools and communities in Oklahoma.
During Dr. O'Hair's tenure, the K20 Center has worked diligently to create interactive K-12 learning communities that motivate, prepare and support students in pursuing advanced studies, rewarding careers, and civic participation. Receiving over $21 million in external funding from federal, state, and private sources, the K20 Center has made significant progress in developing and sustaining systemic substantive changes impacting student learning throughout Oklahoma.
Dr. O'Hair is a tenured professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and has published numerous articles and books on interactive learning communities, leading systemic change, and organizational learning. Her most recent book is Network Learning for Educational Change (2005; co-edited with Wiel Veugelers; Open University Press). Dr. O'Hair serves on Microsoft's U.S. Partners in Learning (PiL) Board of Advisors and is an advisor for the National School Reform Faculty.
Robert Hurst
Robert E. Hurst, PhD, is a Professor of Urology. He earned his Bachelors of Science from Auburn University and his PhD in biochemistry from Florida State University.
He joined the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center in 1983 and provides a strong basic science research expertise that interfaces with the clinical program.
Dr. Hurst's main interests are: the emergence of the malignant and invasive/metastatic phenotypes of bladder and prostate cancer; the role of cell-cell and epithelial- stromal interactions in expression of the malignant phenotype; biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of malignancy and the carcinogenic process, and the molecular basis for bladder defenses against urine and infection.
Scott Wilson
Since 1992, Scott has served as a middle school/high school science teacher, technology coordinator, coach, library media specialist, instructional materials coordinator, instructional technology coordinator, educational technology team leader, science curriculum coach, and a federal grant administrator in both a small rural and large urban school settings. He has B.S. in Natural Science Education from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, M.L.I.S. in Library and Information Studies from the University of Oklahoma, and a PhD in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum from the University of Oklahoma.
His research interests include: digital game-based learning, technology integration, professional development (specifically technology integration PD), and management of constructivist classrooms.
