Center Director

Image of Dr. Narasimhan Rajaram.

Narasimhan Rajaram, PhD

Dr. Narasimhan Rajaram is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arkansas and serves as the Director of the AIMRC and also directs the Laboratory for Functional Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy, which develops noninvasive technologies for monitoring tumor response to therapy.  Dr. Rajaram is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, and his work has also received federal support from the NIH and DoD. Rajaram has >15 years of experience in the development of optical instrumentation and the use of optical microscopy and spectroscopy techniques for pre-clinical discovery work and clinical translation.

Professor, Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
nrajaram@uark.edu
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Managing Director

Image of AIMRC managing director Kimberley Fuller.

Kimberley Fuller, BSc., MBA

Ms. Fuller serves as the Managing Director of the AIMRC, working side-by-side with Dr. Quinn to provide administrative oversight of the center. She assists with fiscal management including subaward management, supports center members with proposal development, oversees center marketing, organizes center events such as Advisory Meetings, Seminar Series and Journal Clubs, and assists with reporting and center assessment.

Ms. Fuller’s background encompasses research and proposal development in various roles at the University of Arkansas. She also has over 20 years of experience in conducting both quantitative and qualitative market research, completing in-depth competitive landscape analyses, identifying high-value market niches for new products, and developing actionable commercialization strategies. Ms. Fuller’s industry expertise spans biomedical/biotechnology, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and financial services.

Managing Director, AIMRC
University of Arkansas
fullerk@uark.edu
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Core Directors

Image of Dr. Timothy Muldoon.

Timothy Muldoon, PhD

Imaging and Spectroscopy Core Director

Dr. Timothy Muldoon, PhD, MD, is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Muldoon has 16 years of experience in the development of clinically compatible microendoscopes and advanced microscopic tools (>30 publications) and is funded by NIH and NSF CAREER awards.

Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
tmuldoon@uark.edu
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Image of Dr. Xintao Wu.

Xintao Wu, PhD

Data Science Core Director

Dr. Xintao Wu is a Professor of Data Science in the Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, and serves as director of the Data Science Core. His research interests include big data analysis, data mining, machine learning, data privacy, fraud detection, and fairness awareness learning. He has published >150 articles in peer-reviewed journals, is an associate editor and/or editorial board member of a number of prestigious Journals, and has served on NSF review panels and program committees as area chair, senior PC, and PC of top international conferences, including ACM KDD, WWW, CIKM, IEEE ICDM, SIAM SDM, AAAI, IJCAI, PKDD, and PAKDD. He also served as program co-chair of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Big Data. (Published Works)

Charles D. Morgan/Acxiom Endowed Graduate Research Chair, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
xintaowu@uark.edu
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Image of Dr. Suresh Thallapuranam.

Suresh Thallapuranam, PhD

Bioenergetics Core Director

Dr. Thallapuranam is the Mildred-Cooper Endowed Chair of Biochemistry and Bioinformatics.  He serves as Director of both the Protein and Peptide Synthesis Facility and NIH-funded NMR Facility on campus.  For the past 15 years, Dr. Thallapuranam has been working on understanding the structure-function relationship and interactions of cytokines such as, the fibroblast growth factors, interleukin 1α, interleukin-12, and the vascular endothelial growth factor(s).  Dr. Thallapuranam has over 20 years of working experience using techniques in the determination of 3D structures of proteins and protein complexes, such multidimensional NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, SAXS and in silico molecular modeling studies.

Mildred-Cooper Endowed Chair of Biochemistry & Bioinformatics, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
sthalla@uark.edu
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Core Staff

Image of Dr. Alan Woessner.

Alan Woessner, PhD

Imagining and Spectroscopy Core Manager

Dr. Alan Woessner serves as the manager for the Imaging and Spectroscopy Core. Dr. Woessner was awarded a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering in 2016 and a Ph.D in Biomedical Engineering in 2022 from the University of Arkansas. He specializes in multiphoton microscopy, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), and image and data analysis.

Research Associate, Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
aewoessn@uark.edu

Meichen Liu, PhD

Imaging and Spectroscopy Core Postdoctoral Associate

Dr. Meichen Liu serves as the Postdoctoral Associate for the Imaging and Spectroscopy Core. Dr. Liu was awarded a B.S. in Molecular Science and Nanotechnology in 2017 and a Ph.D in Biomedical Engineering in 2024 from Louisiana Tech University. She assists the Core Manager with multiphoton microscopy, confocal fluorescence microscopy, and quantitative polarized light imaging (QPLI) microscopy.

Postdoc, Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
ml010@uark.edu

Image of Dr. Patience Okoto.

Patience Okoto, PhD

Bioenergetics Core Manager

Dr. Patience Okoto serves as the manager for the Bioenergetics Core. Dr. Okoto was awarded a Ph.D in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2023 from the University of Arkansas. She specializes in mammalian cell culture, protein structure and dynamics, and protein purification.

Research Associate, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
psokoto@uark.edu

Image of Dr. Prateek Verma.

Prateek Verma, PhD

Data Science Core Manager

Dr. Prateek Verma serves as the manager for the Data Science Core. Dr. Verma was awarded a B.S. & M.S. in Polymer Science and Technology in 2011 from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and a Ph.D in Material Science and Engineering in 2015 from Georgia Tech. He specializes in machine learning for chemicals, materials, multi-omics, health, and environment.

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
prateek@uark.edu

Administrative Support Manager

Cassandra Parks

Ms. Cassandra Parks serves as the Administrative Support Manager for the AIMRC.  She has a B.A. in Communications from Henderson State University, and has also received an Associate Degree in General Studies and an Associate of Applied Science.  She is skilled in grant management, fiscal operations, project management, budget planning and maintenance, event planning and coordination, ERP Systems, and CRM Systems.

Administrative Support Manager, AIMRC
University of Arkansas
ceparks@uark.edu

Research Supported Faculty

Research Mentors

Steering Committee