Darrin R. Akins, Ph.D.

Department of Microbiology & Immunology 
Associate  Dean for Research, College of Medicine
Director, Oklahoma INBRE Program
President's Associates Presidential Professor 
655 Research Parkway, Suite 200
Oklahoma City, OK  73104
Darrin-akins@ouhsc.edu
Office  405.271.2133 x46614         

Administrative:  

Dr. Darrin Akins is in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center (OUHSC).  Dr. Akins currently is PI on an NIH R01 grant and has a strong record of national funding since joining the OUHSC faculty in 1998.  Dr. Akins was a full member of the American Heart Association study section (Immunology and Microbiology section) for four years and was also a full  member of the Microbiology and Infectious Disease Research Committee (MID) study section at NIAID for five years.  Dr. Akins also has served ad  hoc on several other study sections, including the NIH/NIAID underrepresented minority predoctoral fellowship study section.  He also is a member of the Infection & Immunity editorial board.  Dr. Akins has extensive administrative experience and was the Graduate College Assistant Dean at OUHSC from 2006 - 2011, where he was in charge of directing all summer undergraduate research programs on the OUHSC campus,  including the INBRE summer student program.  In 2011, Dr. Akins was appointed as the  Associate Dean for Research for the College of Medicine at OUHSC.    

Research:  

Dr. Akins’ research focus is on Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne infection in the United States, which is caused by the spirochete Borrelia  burgdorferi.  Dr. Akins’ laboratory has shown that several borrelial genes and proteins are expressed specifically in either the tick or mammalian host  environment.  Microarray and functional genomic data from his laboratory have helped to identify several B. burgdorferi genes/proteins that are dramatically up-regulated during tick-feeding and host transmission.  The antigenic changes which occur during mammalian infection are thought  to play a key role in this organisms’ ability to persist for long periods of time in an infected host.  Therefore, a major current focus of his laboratory is to identify antigens expressed exclusively in the mammalian host environment and determine their potential role in immunoevasion, host-parasite interactions during infection, and their potential role as vaccine candidates for this disease. Lab link

Bioinformatics Core Director
David Dyer,  Ph.D.
Professor
Microbial Pathogenesis and Microbial Genomics
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Biomedical Research Center, room 362
975 NE 10th Street
Oklahoma City, OK  73104
405.271.1201  x1 
David-dyer@ouhsc.edu

PROGRAM STAFF

Dawn Hammon
Program Manager
655 Research Parkway, Suite 200
Oklahoma City, OK  73104
405.225.9459
dhammon@osrhe.edu

Stephanie Odparlik
Staff Accountant
940 Stanton L Young Blvd, Room 1045
Oklahoma City, OK  73104
405-271-2133 x.46614
Stephanie-odparlik@ouhsc.edu

M. Caleb Marlin, Ph.D.
Assistant Director of GPiBS - Summer Program Coordinator
940 Stanton L Young Blvd, Room 332
Oklahoma City, OK  73104
405-271-2489
Caleb-marlin@ouhsc.edu

Jennifer Schlegel
Special Programs Coordinator
940 Stanton L Young Blvd, Room 332
Oklahoma City, OK 73104
405-271-2406 x12406
jennifer-schlegel@ouhsc.edu