J. Michael Mathis, PhD, EdD, MHA

I am currently Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. In my previous appointments as Director, Gene Therapy Program and Chair, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences I have undertaken the role of mentoring early-career faculty members, since mentoring is a well-established resource critical to the success of junior faculty researchers. Having had the opportunity to recruit new faculty at the Assistant Professor level, I have previously worked to establish formal mentored career development programs that would support early-career faculty, and to facilitate informal mentoring opportunities for promoting their career advancement. In continuing my education through an Ed.D. program in Higher Education Administration, I completed a dissertation research project entitled “Early-career faculty perceptions of seeking extramural funding for academic biomedical research”, in which mentoring was identified as a major theme. These experiences have allowed me to provide early-career faculty with targeted feedback in support of their research projects, as well as their academic contribution to teaching and service. In my own laboratory research, I am working in translational research of cancer to develop multiple methods for gene and cell therapy, particularly in the use of virus-based and nanoparticle delivery vehicles. I have worked extensively with oncolytic virus vectors for many years, and my laboratory is modifying capsid proteins on virus vectors for cancer retargeting, as well as developing cancer vaccines and conditionally replicating virus vectors for cancer therapy. I have extensive experience in analysis of gene expression using quantitative RT-PCR. In support of translational cancer studies in my laboratory, I have extensive experience immortalizing cell lines from primary tumors and performing co-culture experiments. I have established small animal imaging capability, and I have worked to develop methods for non-invasive monitoring of oncolytic virus and nanoparticle biodistribution in vivo. Among the various methods I have developed are novel modifications of virus capsid proteins to allow SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) imaging in vivo.

Bruce Bunnell PhD

Dr. Bunnell's research program is focused on both stem cells and tissue engineering. His group focuses on both the basic science and translational applications of adult stem cells. Dr. Bunnell investigates use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from the bone marrow or adipose tissue. He is particularly interested in the interactions of MSC with the immune system and how the cells inhibit robust anti-inflammatory effects in vivo. He is interested in applying these cells or products from these cells as a therapeutic intervention for both immune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, wound repair, and bone regeneration. He is currently working towards a human clinical trial for the treatment of osteoarthritis, rotator cuff injury and Multiple Sclerosis using autologous stem cells. He is also interested in defining the role of adipose stem cells in the manifestation of the subcutaneous adipose tissue disorder of unknown origins, called Lipedema, which is characterized by the symmetric buildup of adipose tissue (fat) in the legs and arms that is often severely painful. Dr. Bunnell has an area of focus on the development and application of engineered tissues. The approach combines scaffolds (native or lab-generated) in combination with various stem cell populations. Native scaffolds are generated by decellularizing human tissues using a combination of enzymes and salts to strip away the cells and leave an intact scaffold behind. The scaffold is then repopulated using stem cells alone or in conjunction with terminally differentiated cells in an attempt to make a functional organ. He is also developing microphysiological systems (MPS), which are bioreactor or chip-based in vitro models of complex organ systems that retain all of the functions of native organs. He is currently working as part of a team constructing an MPS of a human knee to model osteoarthritis. Once completed, the system will be used to study tissue interactions, disease mechanisms and novel therapeutics.