Center Director

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

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

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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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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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
Profile
Core Staff

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

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

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

Adam Paré, PhD
Research Project Leader, 2021-2023
Assistant Professor
Biological Sciences
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
pare@uark.edu

Amy Poe, PhD
Research Project Leader, 2025
Recruitment Fund Recipient, 2024-2025
Assistant Professor
Biological Sciences
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
amypoe@uark.edu

Chenguang Fan, PhD
Research Project Leader, 2021-2025
Associate Professor
Biochemistry
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
cf021@uark.edu

Chris Nelson, PhD
Pilot Project Awardee, 2023
Assistant Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
nelsonc@uark.edu

Isabelle Racine-Miousse, PhD
Research Project Leader, 2021-2025
Assistant Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
College of Medicine
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
iracinemiousse@uams.edu

Jeffrey Lewis, PhD
Pilot Project Awardee, 2025
Associate Professor
Biological Sciences
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
lewisja@uark.edu

Jian Zhang, PhD
Pilot Project Awardee, 2023
Recruitment Fund Recipient, 2022
Research Project Leader, 2024-2025
Assistant Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
jianz@uark.edu

Joanna Fiddler, PhD
Research Project Leader, 2025
Recruitment Fund Recipient, 2024
Assistant Professor
Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and Human Environmental Sciences
College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
University of Arkansas
jfiddler@uark.edu

Karthik Nayani, PhD
Pilot Project Awardee, 2021
Assistant Professor
Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
knayani@uark.edu

Kevin Murach, PhD
Pilot Project Awardee, 2023
Recruitment Fund Recipient, 2021
Associate Professor
Health, Human Performance, & Recreation
College of Education & Health Professions
University of Arkansas
kmurach@uark.edu

Leonard Harris, PhD
Pilot Project Awardee, 2021, 2024
Assistant Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
harrisl@uark.edu

Megan Rexius, PhD
Pilot Project Awardee, 2025
Recruitment Fund Recipient, 2025
Assistant Professor
Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
mrexius@uark.edu

Megan Rosa-Caldwell, PhD
Recruitment Fund Recipient, 2023-2024
Assistant Professor
Exercise Science
College of Education & Health Professions
University of Arkansas
mrosa@uark.edu

Rebekah Margaret Samsonraj, PhD
Pilot Project Awardee, 2022
Assistant Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
rmsamson@uark.edu

Xuan Zhuang, PhD
Pilot Project Awardee, 2022, 2021
Recruitment Fund Recipient, 2021
Research Project Leader, 2024-2025
Assistant Professor
Biological Sciences
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
xz036@uark.edu

Younghye Song, PhD
Research Project Leader, 2021-2024
Associate Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
yhsong@uark.edu
Research Mentors

Adam Paré, PhD
Assistant Professor
Biological Sciences
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
pare@uark.edu

Alan Tackett, PhD
Associate Director
Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
Director
COBRE-funded Center for Translational Pediatric Research
Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Scharlau Family Endowed Chair for Cancer Research
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
College of Medicine
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
ajtackett@uams.edu

Erica Westerman, PhD
Associate Professor
Biological Sciences
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
ewesterm@uark.edu

Frank Millett, PhD
Fellow
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Professor Emeritus
Biochemistry
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
millett@uark.edu

Kartik Balachandran, PhD
Associate Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
kbalacha@uark.edu

Kevin Murach, PhD
Associate Professor
Health, Human Performance, & Recreation
College of Education & Health Professions
University of Arkansas
kmurach@uark.edu

Michael Lehmann, PhD
Professor
Biological Sciences
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
mlehmann@uark.edu

Nicholas Greene, PhD
Professor
Exercise Science
College of Education & Health Professions
University of Arkansas
npgreene@uark.edu

Rob Griffin, PhD
Professor
Radiation Oncology
College of Medicine
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
rjgriffin@uams.edu

Suresh Thallapuranam, PhD
Bioenergetics Core Director
Mildred-Cooper Endowed Chair of Biochemistry & Bioinformatics
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
sthalla@uark.edu

Timothy Muldoon, PhD
Imaging & Spectroscopy Core Director
Associate Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
tmuldoon@uark.edu

Younghye Song, PhD
Associate Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
yhsong@uark.edu

Yuchun Du, PhD
Professor
Biological Sciences
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
ydu@uark.edu
Steering Committee

Adam Paré, PhD
Assistant Professor
Biological Sciences
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
pare@uark.edu

Alan Tackett, PhD
Associate Director
Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
Director
COBRE-funded Center for Translational Pediatric Research
Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Scharlau Family Endowed Chair for Cancer Research
Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
College of Medicine
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
ajtackett@uams.edu

Cassandra Parks
Administrative Support Manager, AIMRC
Biomedical Engineering
University of Arkansas
ceparks@uark.edu

Frank Millett, PhD
Fellow
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Associate Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
millett@uark.edu

Kevin Murach, PhD
Associate Professor
Health, Human Performance, & Recreation
College of Education & Health Professions
University of Arkansas
kmurach@uark.edu

Kimberley Fuller
Managing Director, AIMRC
Biomedical Engineering
University of Arkansas
fullerk@uark.edu

Narasimhan Rajaram, PhD
AIMRC Director
Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
nrajaram@uark.edu

Suresh Thallapuranam, PhD
Cooper Chair Bioinformatics Research & Professor
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences
University of Arkansas
sthalla@uark.edu

Timothy Muldoon, PhD
Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
tmuldoon@uark.edu

Xintao Wu, PhD
Professor, Charles D. Morgan/Acxiom Graduate Research Chair
Computer Science & Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
xintaowu@uark.edu

Younghye Song, PhD
Associate Professor
Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
yhsong@uark.edu