Meet the MBArC Leadership Team

William Fay, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Senior Associate Dean for Research in the MU School of Medicine, where he holds the J.W. and Lois Winifred Stafford Distinguished Chair in Diabetes and Cardiovascular Research. He is also an Investigator of the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center. Dr. Fay's research interests focus on vascular biology, atherosclerosis, and thrombosis. His lab is currently carrying out studies of novel compounds for the prevention of restenosis and atherosclerosis that are funded by NIH and AHA. Dr. Fay has served on the AHA National Research Committee and chaired the ATVB annual meeting. He is the recipient of a Thrombosis Special Recognition Award from the ATVB Council. Dr. Fay is a practicing cardiologist. He has served on numerous STTR/SBIR study sections and has been a co-investigator on 3 NIH SBIR grants. He is a member of the MU Coulter Executive Committee.

Sheila Grant, PhD, is Associate Vice Chancellor of Research & Strategic Initiatives, MU, Associate Dean of Research, College of Engineering, and Professor of Bioengineering. Dr. Grant’s research focuses on optical biosensors and biomaterials and has been funded by the NSF, NIH, USDA, DOD-Army, and numerous industries (Medtronic, Covidien, J&J, MTF, W.L. Gore). Dr. Grant holds eight U.S. patents, has published over 100 research articles in scientific journals, and is the founder of three start-up companies. Dr. Grant is the sub-contract PI on a current NSF SBIR and served as a NIH SBIR/STTR Panel Chairperson (IMST, Section 13 and BST-10 IRG) for two years. She is a member of the MU Coulter Executive Committee. Dr. Grant is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).

Douglas Wright, PhD, is Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, KUMC, PI of K-INBRE, and Co-PI of SHARPhub. Doug’s main research interests are peripheral nerves, sensation, and pain. Within MBArC, Dr. Wright serves as a Co-investigator of the overall project and a member of the overall Hub Leadership Team. Dr. Wright helps to identify and recruit scientific teams from KUMC and other institutions within K-INBRE and SHARPhub whose scientific discoveries have commercialization potential.

Richard Barohn, MD, is vice chancellor for health affairs for MU Health Care and MU School of Medicine. Previously, he was professor and chair of the Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC). He is PI of the Frontiers: University of Kansas Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Dr. Barohn is a member of the National CTSA Executive Committee. He is an internationally-recognized expert in clinical trials of drugs used to treat neuromuscular disorders who is committed to finding new therapies to help patients with rare neuromuscular diseases. Within MBArC, Dr. Barohn serves as an advisor on the project and a member of the overall Hub Leadership Team. His expertise as a clinician-scientist with extensive experience in clinical trials proves useful in all aspects of MBArC. Dr. Barohn helps to identify and recruit scientific teams from KUMC and serve as the lead contact between KUMC, MU, and its UM System partners.

Jaya Ghosh, PhD, works closely with applying and funded researchers in MBArC. Dr. Ghosh has considerable experience in translational project management, having served as the Assistant Program Director of the Coulter Translational Partnership Program at MU since 2015, and recently being promoted to the Program Director position. The MU Coulter Program bridges the gap between academic research and industry by accelerating the translation of biomedical innovations into products that improve patient care. As Coulter Program Director, Jaya is responsible for managing all processes associated with de-risking, funding, reviewing and tracking of Coulter projects. She teaches the Coulter Business Boot Camp which is offered annually. During the Boot Camp, teams of engineering faculty researchers and clinicians, mentored by the instructor, business advisers and experts, are guided through a series of lectures and interactive exercises to pressure-test the commercial viability of their ideas using universal business criteria as well as the unique requirements of biomedical product commercialization. Dr. Ghosh is also an adjunct Instructor in the Trulaske College of Business and a Program Manager for the NIH Concept to Clinic: Commercializing Innovation (C3i) Program. Before joining the MU Coulter Program, Jaya was the Engineering Fellow for the MU Biodesign & Innovation Program.