Kentucky
Academy of Science Kentucky
Academy of Science 
Dr. Harrell E. Hurst is Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry, M.S. in Toxicology, and Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of Kentucky. In 1978 he was appointed to the University of Louisville faculty. From 1982 to 2001 he directed the Therapeutics and Toxicology Laboratory, which provided therapeutic drug monitoring and analytical toxicology services to area hospitals. His research interests include kinetics of drug and toxicant metabolism, pharmacokinetic mathematical modeling, toxicology of reactive metabolic intermediates, and application of mass spectrometry to toxicological problems. Techniques he uses for quantitative analyses include gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. His chemical structural analyses have employed nominal or accurate mass high-resolution GC/MS, electrospray ionization MS/MS, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) MS. He teaches use of these techniques, as well as pharmacokinetics and toxicology in graduate and medical courses.
Dr. Steven R. Myers, is currently Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Dr. Myers' research focuses on the development and utilization of biological markers of environmental carcinogen exposure, particularly in smokers and non-smokers. Dr. Myers' research undertakes a variety of experiments to assess exposure of human populations to both environmental tobacco smoke as well as other sources of environmental contaminants that potentially can cause developmental, gestational, and postnatal disease. The research of Dr. Myers gains insightful information as to the levels of compounds exposed to individuals, as well as the developing fetus. Through his work in dealing with fetal exposure to tobacco carcinogens during pregnancy, new revelations have been found as to the potential harmful effects of environmental as well as tobacco related carcinogens on the developing fetus. These studies are continuing in coordination with several area hospitals and work is currently investigating relationships between individual carcinogens found in tobacco with specific alterations in enzymes in the mother and in the neonate as well as both DNA and protein damage. Other areas of investigation and Dr. Myers' laboratory includes development and application of biomarkers of exposure to environmental carcinogens in a variety of areas of the United States in conjunction with the United States Environmental Protection Agency as well as in studies carried out in the Czech Republic as well as in China, both of these areas being some the most polluted areas in the world. A new area of investigation currently under study is the application and utility of breast milk as a biomarker of exposure to a variety of carcinogens resulting from mothers smoking during pregnancy. This area of research will yield exciting new information as to the postnatal effects of tobacco carcinogens on the infant as a consequence of breast feeding. Dr. Myers has been actively involved in the field of chemical carcinogenesis for over 25 years and has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and abstracts related to his research. He has presented his research at numerous invited presentations and has given seminars throughout the world on his biomarker and carcinogen research. He is currently editor of the Journal Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds published by Taylor and Francis publishing group. Dr. Myers can be reached at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, 500 S. Preston St., Louisville, KY 40292, by e-mail at sr.myers@louisville.edu, or by phone at (502) 852-0928, or (502) 396-3105.
Karl Dawson is a Professor of Nutritional Microbiology and has served as director of the Nutritional Microbiology laboratory in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Kentucky. He has a B.S. degree in Bacteriology from Utah State University, an M.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of Wyoming, and a Ph.D. in Bacteriology from Iowa State University. He worked for two years as a microbiologist at the National Animal Disease Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, and was employed by the University of Kentucky for 21 years. His research has focused on strategies for improving animal performance and health by altering microbial activities in the gastrointestinal tract. Studies in his laboratory have examined microbial population changes and activities in ruminants, horses, pigs, and poultry. He has also served as the Research Coordinator for the Department of Animal Sciences and Chair of Agricultural Biotechnology Coordinating Committee at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Dawson is currently serving as the Director of Worldwide Research for Alltech Inc. and directs research activities at the company’s Biosciences centers around the world.
Nila Dharan is currently an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the Epidemic Intelligence Service: Influenza Division, Centers for Disease Control. She holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from Georgetown University and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center. Dr. Dharan has completed a research rotation in the International Emerging Infectious Program in Nairobi, Kenya with the Centers for Disease Control. She has also participated in the International Health Care Project in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua and served as a Volunteer Health Care Researcher in Seva Mundir, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. She was awarded the 2003 Huber International Research Fellowship to study infectious diseases in Thailand at the CDC’s International Emerging Infections Program in Bangkok. She also received the Eric Lemmer Research Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarly Activity at Georgetown University and was nominated in 2004-5 and 2005-6 for the String of Pearls Award, given to residents at Georgetown Medical Center for excellence in teaching.
Wimberly Royster, Ph.D.Dr. Wimberly Royster is the Chairman of the Kentucky Statewide EPSCoR Committee, principal investigator for the Appalachian Rural Systemic InitiativeSI ,co-principal Investigator of the Appalachian Mathematics and Science Partnership (AMSP),and vice president of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation.He served as the Director of Kentucky EPSCoR from1993 to 2002. He was the University of Kentucky's first vice president for research and graduate studies. At the University of Kentucky, he chaired the mathematics department before becoming the director of the School of Mathematical Sciences, then dean of the College of Sciences and later dean of the Graduate School and vice chancellor for research. Under his leadership, the mathematics department was awarded major funding from theNational Science Foundation in 1968, and then in 2002 he was instrumental in the University obtaining its largest ever single grant,the AMSP. Dr. Royster has served as president of the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools and the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States and Canada , the Southeastern Universities Research Association, and has served on numerous national boards.
John Mateja is an experimental nuclear physicist with research interests is in the area of light heavy-ion reactions. After earning his B.S and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Notre Dame in 1972 and 1976, he was a post-doctoral research associate at Florida State University. Subsequent to this appointment, he became a member of the physics faculty at Tennessee Technological University where he specialized in teaching introductory calculus-based physics and developed one of the first research programs in the nation to involve physics undergraduates in research and one of a very small number of undergraduate programs to be funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Division of Nuclear Physics. In 1988, he joined the staff at Argonne National Laboratory where he had oversight responsibility for all undergraduate, graduate student, and faculty outreach programs that placed participants in the research laboratories of Argonne staff. Approximately 700 college level participants came through this program annually. In 1994 he was invited to join the staff at DOE headquarters to co-manage a new grant program to assist non-competitive states to become more grant competitive for federal research funding. While not a specific mission of the program, John again emphasized the importance of undergraduate involvement in research and worked with the participating faculty to develop research opportunities for undergraduates. John assumed the position of Dean of the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology at Murray State University in 1998. In addition to numerous individual faculty research awards, during his three year tenure as Dean, the College successfully competed for a $1.5 million Howard Hughes Medical Institute award, an $800,000 NSF Collaborative Research at Undergraduate Institutions award, three NSF Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement grants totaling over $600,000 and a $1.5 million NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research award. Today, he is the Director of Murray State’s Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity (URSA) and McNair Scholars Program offices. The mission of the URSA office is to grow undergraduate research and scholarly activity across the entire campus. The McNair Scholars Program, supported by a $880,000 award from the U.S. Department of Education and open to students in all disciplinary majors, encourages undergraduates from disadvantaged families and from groups underrepresented in higher education to pursue doctoral degrees. A key component of the McNair experience is a faculty-mentored research or scholarly experience. For over 20 years, John has been a leader at the national level of the movement to incorporate undergraduate research and scholarship into the undergraduate educational experience. He has been the President of the Council on Undergraduate Research and the Chair of the American Physical Society’s Committee on Education. In 2006, he was made of Fellow of the Council on Undergraduate Research. Over the course of his career, John has been responsible for seeing that thousands of undergraduates have had the opportunity to participate in mentored research and scholar experiences in their disciplinary area of interest.
Dr. Benjamin K. Malphrus is Professor of Space Science at Morehead State University where he also directs the University’s Space Science Center. He served as project director of the design and construction of the 13 M Morehead Radio Telescope and more recently the 21 M Space Tracking Antenna operated by the Center. He has served on the scientific staff of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and on the faculty of universities including the University of South Carolina and West Virginia University. He is author of a book on the evolution of instrumentation in radio astronomy. He has initiated and participated in numerous educational initiatives including the development of space science and astrophysics degree programs at Morehead State and the design and construction of a Low Earth Orbiting Satellite (KySat—scheduled to be launched from Kazakhstan in 2008 and controlled from Morehead State). He has promoted economic development in Eastern Kentucky by establishing a space science business incubator and attracting small, high-tech businesses related to the space enterprise. Dr. Malphrus served on the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Science Teachers Association from 1990- 1994 and as President of that organization in 1996. Additionally, he has served on numerous state-wide committees (Statewide EPSCoR for 2 years, NASA EPSCoR for 14 years, Kentucky Space Grants Consortium for 14 years). Dr. Malphrus has published papers in scientific journals on topics ranging from extragalactic astrophysics to instrumentation in Radio Astronomy, to space systems engineering. He has managed 47 grant projects funded totaling over $6 million and negotiated transfers and gifts of scientific equipment to the university totaling over $5 million. In 1994, 1995, and 1996 Dr. Malphrus was awarded the NASA JOVE research fellowship for research in the structure and kinematics of gravitationally interacting galaxies. This research led to the discovery of the first genuinely young galaxy ever observed in an interacting field, NGC 5291-B. Recently, Dr. Malphrus has been involved in promoting, capitalizing, designing, and constructing a $15.6 million state-of-the-art research, development, and education center for the space science program (scheduled to be open in January 2009). In the late 1990s, Dr. Malphrus developed a theory of galaxy formation that has gained wide acceptance among the astronomical community. He continues to contribute to the body of research in interacting galaxies, radio astronomy instrumentation, and space systems design and operation.
Jeff C. Falcone, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Physiology & Biophysics at the University of Louisville’s Health Sciences Center in Louisville, KY. Dr. Falcone received a B.S. in Chemistry, M.S. and Ph.D. in Physiology & Biophysics from Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis. He then moved to Texas A&M’s School of Medicine where he conducted research for 5 years before becoming faculty at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Falcone has always had a desire to help others understand the sciences. He has taught Human Anatomy and Physiology, student laboratories and regularly lectured in multiple programs. When Jeff arrived at the University of Louisville he brought many innovative teaching pedagogies into light and has been honored with his introduction of Team-Based Learning. Currently, Dr. Falcone participates in teaching Dental Physiology, Medical Physiology, Methods in Physiology, Integrated Physiology and is course director for a new Summer Medical and Dental Enrichment Program for 80 young undergraduates from across the country (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). Dr. Falcone has participated as a leader in inquiry-based k-12 science methodology training sessions held at the Indiana University School of Medicine, University of South Dakota School of Medicine and UofL.
With an M.A. in Higher Education Administration and a strong background in writing and proposal development, Beverly Daly joined the University of Louisville’s Office of Sponsored Programs Development in 2002. She assists researchers from the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, Dentistry, and Social Work in finding and obtaining funding for their biomedical research projects. Most recently she was tasked with managing UofL’s transition to the new Grants.gov electronic proposal system. Bev helped devise new internal processes necessary for a successful conversion and conducted training workshops for more than 300 faculty and staff.
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