Members
Dr. Neelam Azad
Professor and Chairperson, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Location: Flemmie Kittrell Hall 1st Floor, Main Office
Dr. Neelam Azad joined the School of Pharmacy at Hampton University in Fall 2008. Dr. Azad’s vision is to provide high quality education in pharmaceutical sciences and to maintain a vigorous biomedical sciences research program. Dr. Azad’s research interests are in the field of lung pathologies and cancer cell biology, and she has published extensively in a number of high-profile scientific journals. Dr. Azad has received multiple NIH-funded SCORE grant awards and a sub-award under Hampton University’s U54 grant award. She serves as co-investigator on a training (R25) grant aimed at establishing a multi-year summer research-training program for pharmacy professional students in areas pertaining to lung pathologies. As part of her scholarly duties, Dr. Azad coordinates and teaches Physiological Chemistry (PHA 311) and Medicinal Chemistry (PHA 314).
Education
Ph.D. (Pharmaceutical Sciences), West Virginia University, 2007
B.S. (Pharmacy), University of Mumbai, 2001
Honors & Awards
2018-2019 Academic Excellence Faculty Award, Hampton University
2016 Academic Leadership Fellows Program (ALFP) Certification, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
2015, 2014, 2013 Professor of the Year Award, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hampton University
2014, 2013, 2012 AACR Minority-Serving Institution Faculty Scholar Award, America Association for Cancer Research Annual Conference
2013 President’s Ambassador for Academic Excellence Award,Hampton University
2013 Scholarship, Frontiers in Stem Cells in Cancer Workshop, Magee Women’s Research Institute, University of Pittsburgh
2012 Scholarship, Workshop on Leadership in Bioscience, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
2010 Induction into Rho Chi Honor Society
2010 Conference Award, Towards Personalized Cancer Medicine Conference, The New York Academy of Sciences
2006 Research Award in Biotechnology, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Annual Conference
2006 Induction into Sigma Xi Honor Society
2006 Sigma Xi Research Award, Chapter’s Annual Research Day, West Virginia University
2006 Annual Research Award, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, West Virginia University
2006, 2005 Van Liere Research Award,Health Science Center’s Annual Research Day, West Virginia University
2004 Best Teaching Assistant Award, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, West Virginia University
Grantsmanship
ONGOING RESEARCH SUPPORT
9SC1GM121287-06A1 06/26/2018 – 05/31/2022
Minority Biomedical Research Support – Support for Continuous Research Excellence (MBRS-SCORE)
National Institute of Health (NIH)/National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Title: Targeting Lipogenic and Angiogenic Mediators in Pulmonary Fibrosis
Role: Principal Investigator Amount: $ 1.27 M
SC3GM122655
MBRS – SCORE 09/11/2017 – 08/31/2021
National Institute of Health (NIH)/ National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Title: Reversing Resistance to PARP-Inhibitor in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells
Role: Co-investigator Amount: $ 444,000
R25HL125453 09/01/2016 – 06/30/2021
NIH/ National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Title: The Summer Pharmacy Experiences in Academic Research program at Hampton University.
Role: Co-investigator Amount: $ 427,799
U54MD008621
The Hampton University Regional Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Sub Award number: HU-180004 10/01/2017 – 06/30/2019
Title: Role of Wnt/β-catenin in Prostate Cancer Progression in Obese African-Americans
Role: Co-investigator Amount: $ 93,750
COMPLETED RESEARCH SUPPORT
SC1CA173069-01A1 09/01/2012 – 08/31/2018
NIH/National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Title: Anti-Tumorigenic Potential of Novel Digitoxin Analogues
Role: Co-investigator Amount: $ 1.35 M
SC1HL112630-01 09/01/2011 – 06/30/2017
Minority Biomedical Research Support – Support for Continuous Research Excellence (MBRS-SCORE)
National Institute of Health (NIH)/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
Title: Impact of Oxidative Stress-Mediated Angiogenesis in Pulmonary Fibrosis
Role: Principal Investigator Amount: $ 1.3 M
Faculty Development Grant 09/01/2010 – 12/31/2011
Hampton University
Title: Anti-Tumorigenic Effects of Novel Digitoxin Analogues
Role: Co-investigator
Faculty Development Grant 09/01/2010 – 12/31/2011
Hampton University
Title: Impact of Oxidative Stress-Mediated Angiogenesis in Pulmonary Fibrosis
Role: Principal investigator
Faculty Development Grant 01/01/2010 – 12/31/2010
Hampton University
Title: Elucidation of Novel Signaling Mechanisms in Carbon Nanotube Induced Carcinogenesis
Role: Co-investigator
Research Development Grant 01/01/2008 – 01/01/2009
West Virginia University
Title: Role of Akt/PKB in Mediating Carbon Nanotube-Induced Pathogenesis
Role: Co-investigator
Research Interests
- Fibrosis – Genetic and molecular networks involved in pulmonary fibrosis.
- Cancer – Molecular mechanisms involved in cancer progression and metastasis.
- Apoptosis – Effect of environmental and occupational carcinogens on apoptosis.
- Free Radical Biology – Oxidative and nitrosative stress in cancer and fibrosis.
Publications
1. Chanvorachote P, Nimmannit U, Wang L, Stehlik C, Lu B, Azad N, Rojanasakul Y. Nitric Oxide Negatively Regulates Fas CD95-induced Apoptosis through Inhibition of Ubiquitin-Proteasome mediated Degradation of FLICE Inhibitory Protein. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2005; 280(51): 42044–42050.
2. Azad N, Rojanasakul Y. Vaccine Delivery – Current Trends and Future. Current Drug Delivery. 2006; 3(2): 137-146.
3. Azad N, Rojanasakul Y. Nanobiotechnology in Drug Delivery. American Journal of Drug Delivery.2006; 4(2): 79-88.
4. Azad N, Vallyathan V, Wang L, Tantishaiyakul V, Stehlik C, Leonard SS, Rojanasakul Y. S-Nitrosylation of Bcl-2 Inhibits its Ubiquitin-Proteasomal Degradation: A Novel Anti-Apoptotic Mechanism that Suppresses Apoptosis. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2006; 281(45): 34124-34134.
5. Moungjaroen J, Nimmannit U, Callery PS, Wang L, Azad N, Lipipun V, Chanvorachote P, Rojanasakul Y. Reactive Oxygen Species Mediate Caspase Activation and Apoptosis Induced by Lipoic Acid in Human Lung Epithelial Cancer Cells through Bcl-2 Downregulation. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2006; 319(3): 1062-1069.
6. Azad N, Rojanasakul Y. Macromolecular Drug Delivery. Biopharmaceutical Drug Design and Development. 2007; 2nd Edition: 293-324.
7. Azad N, Iyer AKV, Rojanasakul Y. DNA Microarrays in Drug Discovery and Development. Biopharmaceutical Drug Design and Development. 2007; 2nd Edition: 47-66.
8. Azad N, Rojanasakul Y, Vallyathan V. Inflammation and Lung Cancer: Roles of Reactive Oxygen/Nitrogen Species. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health – Part B.2008; 11(1): 1-15.
9. Wang L, Azad N, Kongkaneramit L, Chen F, Lu Y, Jiang BH, Rojanasakul Y. The Fas Death Signaling Pathway Connecting Reactive Oxygen Species Generation and FLICE Inhibitory Protein Downregulation. Journal of Immunology. 2008; 180(5): 3072-3080.
10. Kongkaneramit L, Sarisuta N, Azad N, Lu Y, Iyer AKV, Wang L, Rojanasakul Y. Dependence of Reactive Oxygen Species and FLIP on Lipofectamine-Induced Apoptosis in Human Lung Epithelial Cells. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.2008; 325(3); 969-977.
11. Iyer AKV, Azad N, Rojanasakul Y. Role of S-nitrosylation in Apoptosis Resistance and Malignant Transformation. Nitric Oxide Biology and Chemistry. 2008; 19(2): 146-151.
12. Azad N, Iyer AKV, Manosroi A, Wang L, Rojanasakul Y. Superoxide-Mediated Proteasomal Degradation of Bcl-2 Determines Cell Susceptibility to Cr(VI)-Induced Apoptosis. Carcinogenesis.2008; 29(8): 1538-1545.
13. Azad N, Iyer AKV, Rojanasakul Y. Methods to Analyze S-nitrosylation of Proteins Involved in Apoptosis. Methods in Molecular Biology. 2009; 559: 117-130.
14. Azad N, Lu Y, Wang L, Iyer AKV, Castranova V, Jiang BH, Rojanasakul Y. Phosphatidylinositol-3-Kinase/Akt Regulates Bleomycin-Induced Fibroblast Proliferation and Collagen Production. American Journal of Respiratory Cellular and Molecular Biology. 2010; 42 (4): 432-441.
15. Azad N, Iyer AKV, Wang L, Lu Y, Medan D, Castranova V, Rojanasakul Y. Nitric Oxide-Mediated Bcl-2 Stabilization Potentiates Malignant Transformation of Human Lung Epithelial Cells. American Journal of Respiratory Cellular and Molecular Biology. 2010; 42 (5): 578-585.
16. Azad N, Iyer AKV, Vallyathan V, Wang L, Castranova V, Stehlik C, Rojanasakul Y. Role of Oxidative/Nitrosative Stress-Mediated Bcl-2 Regulation in Apoptosis and Malignant Transformation. Annals of The New York Academy of Sciences. 2010; 1203: 1-6.
17. Iyer AKV, Zhou M, Azad N, Elbaz H, Wang H, Rogalsky D, Rojanasakul Y, O’Doherty G., Langenhan J. A Direct Comparison of the Anticancer Activities of Digitoxin MeON-Neoglycosides and O-Glycosides: Oligosaccharide Chain Length Dependent Induction of Caspase-9-Mediated Apoptosis. American Chemical Society Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 2010; 1(7): 300-369.
18. Iyer, AKV, Azad N, Rojanasakul Y. S-nitrosylation – How Cancer Cells Say NO to Cell Death. Nitric Oxide Biology and Chemistry, Prognosis, Prevention and Therapy. 2010; Part 3: 4-102.
19. Iyer AKV, Azad N, Wang L, Rojanasakul Y. Cellular FLICE-Inhibitory Protein Regulates Fas-Ligand Induced Activation of NFκB in A PI3K-Dependent Manner. Journal of Immunology. 2011; 187(6): 3256-3266.
20. Iyer, AKV, Azad N, Rojanasakul Y, Ma JKH. Application of Nanosciences in Pharmaceutics. Basic Physical Pharmacy. 2012: 486-516.
21. Luanpitpong S, Iyer AKV, Azad N, Wang L, Rojanasakul Y. Nitrosothiol Signaling in Anoikis Resistance and Cancer Metastasis. Forum on Immunopathological Diseases and Therapeutics. 2012;3(2): 141–154.
22. Djordje M, Luanpitpong S, Azad N, Wang L, Jiang BH, Davis M, Barnett J, Guo L, Rojanasakul Y. Multifunctional Role of Bcl-2 in Malignant Transformation and Tumorigenesis of Cr(VI)-Transformed Lung Cells. PLoS ONE. 2012; 7(5): e37045.
23. Azad N, Iyer AKV, Lu Y, Wang L, Rojanasakul Y. P38/MAPK Regulates Single-walled Carbon Nanotube-Induced Fibroblast Proliferation and Collagen Production. Nanotoxicology. 2013;7(2): 157–168.
24. Talbott SJ, Luanpitpong S, Stehlik C, Azad N, Iyer AKV, Wang L, Rojanasakul Y. S-Nitrosylation Of FLICE Inhibitory Protein Determines Its Interaction With RIP1 And Activation Of NF-Κb. Cell Cycle. 2014; 13(12): 948-957.
25. Iyer AKV, Azad N, Rojanasakul Y. Nitrosothiol Signaling and Protein Nitrosation in Cell Death and Survival. Nitric Oxide Biology and Chemistry. 2014; 42C: 9-18.
26. Azad N, Iyer AKV. Reactive Oxygen Species and Apoptosis. Systems Biology of Free Radicals and Antioxidants. 2014; 113-135.
27. Iyer AKV, Ramesh V, Castro CA, Kaushik V, Kulkarni YM, Wright CA, Venkatadri R, Rojanasakul Y, Azad N. Nitric Oxide Mediates Bleomycin-Induced Angiogenesis and Pulmonary Fibrosis via Regulation of VEGF. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. 2015; 116(11): 2484-2493.
28. Wright CA, Kulkarni YM, Iyer AKV, Azad N. S-nitrosylation of Bcl-2 Negatively Affects Autophagy in Lung Epithelial Cells. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. 2016; 117(2): 521-32.
29. Kulkarni Y, Kaushik V, Azad N, Wright C, Rojanasakul Y, O’Doherty G, Iyer AKV. Autophagy-Induced Apoptosis in Lung Cancer cells by a Novel Digitoxin Analog. Journal of Cellular Physiology. 2016; 231(4): 817-828.
30. Kulkarni YM, Dutta S, Iyer AKV, Venkatadri R, Kaushik V, Ramesh V, Wright CA, Semmes OJ, Yakisich JS, Azad N. A Proteomics Approach to Identifying Key Protein Targets Involved in VEGF-Inhibitor Mediated Attenuation of Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis. Proteomics.2016; 16(1): 33-46.
31. Yakisich JS, Azad N, Venkatadri R, Kulkarni Y, Wright C, Kaushik V, O’Doherty G, Iyer AKV. Digitoxin and its Synthetic Analog MonoD have Potent Antiproliferative Effects on Lung Cancer Cells and Potentiate the Effects of Hydroxyurea and Paclitaxel. Oncology Reports. 2016; 35(2): 878-886.
32. Klionsky DJ, Azad N. et al. Guidelines for the Use and Interpretation of Assays for Monitoring Autophagy (3rd edition). Autophagy. 2016; 12 (1): 1-222.
33. Yakisich JS, Azad N, Venkatadri R, Kulkarni Y, Wright C, Kaushik V, Iyer AKV. Formation of Tumorspheres with Increased Stemness without External Mitogens in a Lung Cancer Model. Stem Cells International. 2016; 2016: 5603135. doi: 10.1155/2016/5603135.
34. Wright CA, Iyer AKV, Wang L, Wu N, Yakisich JS, Rojanasakul Y, Azad N. Effects of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles on Human Keratinocytes. Drug and Chemical Toxicology. 2016; 16: 1-11.
35. Venkatadri R, Muni T, Iyer A.K.V, Yakisich JS, Azad N.Role of Apoptosis-Related MiRNAs in Resveratrol-Induced Breast Cancer Cell Death. Cell Death and Disease. 2016; 7:e2104. doi: 10.1038/cddis.2016.6.
36. Yakisich JS, Venkatadri R, Azad N, Iyer AKV. Chemoresistance of Lung and Breast Cancer Cells Growing Under Prolonged Periods of Serum Starvation. Journal of Cellular Physiology. 2017; 232(8): 2033-2043.
37. Venkatadri R, Iyer AKV, Ramesh V, Wright C, Castro CA, Yakisich JS, Azad N. MnTBAP Inhibits Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis by Regulating VEGF and Wnt Signaling. Journal of Cellular Physiology. 2017; 232(3): 506-516.
38. Kaushik V, Yakisich JS, Azad N, Kulkarni Y, Venkatadri R, Wright C, Rojanasakul Y, Iyer AKV. Anti-Tumor Effects of Cardiac Glycosides on Human Lung Cancer Cells and Lung Tumorspheres. Journal of Cellular Physiology. 2017; 232(9): 2497-2507.
39. Yakisich JS, Azad N, Kaushik V, Iyer AKV. Cancer Cell Plasticity: Rapid Reversal of Chemosensitivity and Expression of Stemness Markers in Lung and Breast Cancer Tumorspheres. Journal of Cellular Physiology. 2017; 232(9): 2280-2286.
40. Kaushik V, Azad N, Yakisich JS, Iyer AKV. Antitumor Effects of Naturally Occurring Cardiac Glycosides Convallatoxin and Peruvoside on Human ER+ and Triple-Negative Breast Cancers. Cell Death Discovery. 2017; 3:17009.doi:10.1038/cddiscovery.2017.9.
41. Wright C, Iyer AKV, Yakisich JS, Azad N. Anti-Tumorigenic Effects of Resveratrol in Lung Cancer Cells Through Modulation of c-FLIP. Current Cancer Drug Targets. 2017; 17(7): 669-680.
42. Yakisich JS, Azad N, Kaushik V, O’Doherty GA, Iyer AKV. Nigericin Decreases the Viability of Multidrug-Resistant Cancer Cells and Lung Tumorspheres and Potentiates the Effects of Cardiac Glycosides. Tumour Biology. 2017; 39(3): doi: 10.1177/ 1010428317694310.
43. Wright C, Iyer AKV, Kaushik V, Azad N. Anti-Tumorigenic Potential of a Novel Orlistat-AICAR Combination in Prostate Cancer Cells. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. 2017; 118(11): 3834-3845.
44. Venkatadri R, Iyer AKV, Kaushik V, Azad N. A Novel Resveratrol-Salinomycin Combination Sensitizes ER-Positive Breast Cancer Cells to Apoptosis. Pharmacological Reports. 2017; 69(4): 788-797.
45. Kulkarni YM, Yakisich JS, Azad N, Venkatadri R, Kaushik V, O’Doherty G, Iyer AKV. Anti-Tumorigenic Effects of a Novel Digitoxin Derivative on Both Estrogen Receptor-Positive and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells. Tumour Biology. 2017; 39(6): doi: 10.1177/1010428317705331.
46. Azad N, Anderson HG Jr., Brooks A, Garza O, O’Neil C, Stutz MM, Sobotka JL. Leadership and Management Are One and the Same. The American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2017; 81(6): 102.
47. Yakisich JS, Kulkarni Y, Azad N, Iyer AKV. Selective and Irreversible Induction of Necroptotic Cell Death in Lung Tumorspheres by Short-Term Exposure to Verapamil in Combination with Sorafenib. Stem Cells International. 2017; 2017:5987015. doi: 10.1155/2017/5987015.
48. Kaushik V, Yakisich JS, Azad N, Iyer AKV. Alternative Models of Cancer Stem Cells: Implications for Translational Oncology. Frontiers in Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research. 2017; Volume 8: 1-54.
49. Guishard AF, Yakisich JS, Azad N, Iyer AKV. Translational Gap in Ongoing Clinical Trials for Glioma. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. 2018; 47: 28-42.
50. Kulkarni YM, Dutta S, Iyer AKV, Wright CA, Ramesh V, Kaushik V, Semmes OJ, Azad N. A Lipidomics Approach to Identifying Key Lipid Species Involved in VEGF-Inhibitor Mediated Attenuation of Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis. Proteomics Clinical Applications. 2018; 12(3): e1700086. doi: 10.1002/prca.201700086.
51. Kaushik V, Yakisich JS, Way LF, Azad N, Iyer AKV. Chemoresistance of Cancer Floating Cells is Independent of their Ability to form 3D Structures: Implications for Anticancer Drug Screening. Journal of Cellular Physiology. 2018; doi: 10.1002/jcp.27239. (Epub ahead of print)
52. Kaushik V, Yakisich JS, Kumar A, Azad N, Iyer AKV. Ionophores: Potential Use as Anticancer Drugs and Chemosensitizers. Cancers. 2018; 10(10), 360; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers10100360.
53. Yakisich JS, Azad N, Kaushik V, Iyer AKV. The Biguanides Metformin and Buformin in Combination with 2-Deoxy-glucose or WZB-117 Inhibit the Viability of Highly Resistant Human Lung Cancer Cells. Stem Cells Int. 2019; Feb 21;2019:6254269. doi: 10.1155/2019/6254269. eCollection 2019.
Selected Presentations
- Kaushik V, Yakisich JS, Way L., Azad N, Iyer AKV. : Cancer Cells Spheroids Display Low Expression of Dkk-1 and Increased Chemoresistance. VirginiaDrugDiscoveryRx Symposium, 2019.(Poster)
- Funderburk E., Christopher A, Yakisich JS, Neelam Azad, Iyer AKV. Simvastatin pre-treatment ameliorates TGFB1-decreased cell viability in Beas-2B cells. Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), 2017. (Poster)
- Wright C, Iyer AKV, Kulkarni Y, Kaushik V, Venkatadri R, Yakisich JS, Neelam Azad. Fatty Acid Synthase (FASN) inhibition negatively affects cell proliferation and viability in prostate cancer cells AACR Annual Conference, 2016. (Poster)
- Venkatadri R., Wright C., Kaushik V., Kulkarni Y., Yakisich J.S., Iyer A.K.V, Neelam Azad. MnTBAP Inhibits Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis by Regulating Canonical Wnt Pathway. PFF Summit: From Bench to Bedside, Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Annual Conference, 2015.(Poster)
- Wright C., Iyer A.K.V, Neelam Azad. Differential autophagy responses in non-tumorigenic and malignantly transformed lung epithelial cells. AACR Annual Conference,2014.(Poster)
- Neelam Azad, Rojanasakul Y., O’ Doherty G., Iyer A.K.V. Anti-tumorigenic Effects of a Novel Digitoxin Analogue. AACR Annual Conference, 2013. (Poster)
- Neelam Azad. Role of Oxidative Stress Mediated Angiogenesis in Pulmonary Fibrosis. Graduate Seminar series, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, 2012.(Podium)
- Neelam Azad, Iyer A.K.V., Wang L., Y Lu., Rojanasakul Y. Impact of Oxidative Stress-Regulated Angiogenesis in Pulmonary Fibrosis. PFF Summit 2011: From Bench to Bedside, Inaugural Conference of Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, 2011. (Poster)
- Neelam Azad. Molecular Mechanisms in Hexavalent Chromium-Induced Lung Pathogenesis. 6th Conference on Molecular Mechanisms of Metal Toxicity and Carcinogenesis. Sponsored by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences and Health and the University of Kentucky, 2010. (Podium)
- Neelam Azad, Iyer A.K.V., Rojanasakul Y. Malignant Transformation of Human Lung Epithelial Cells – Interplay Between Nitric Oxide, Bcl-2 And VEGF. Towards Personalized Cancer Medicine, NYAS, 2010. (Poster)
- Neelam Azad. Reactive Oxidative/Nitrosative Species in Lung Cancer and Fibrosis. 4th International Conference on Oxidative/Nitrosative Stress and Disease. The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), 2009. (Podium)
- Neelam Azad, Iyer A.K.V., Lu Y., Wang L., Rojanasakul Y. Angiogenic Mediators Regulate Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Induced Fibrogenesis in Human Lung Fibroblasts. AAPS, 2008. (Poster)
- Neelam Azad, Wang L., Rojanasakul Y. Reactive Oxygen Species Mediate Apoptosis in Human Lung Epithelial Cancer Cells through Ubiquitin-Mediated Bcl-2 Downregulation. AAPS, 2007. (Poster)
- Neelam Azad. S-Nitrosylation of Bcl-2 – A Novel Anti-Apoptotic Mechanism. American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), 2006. (Podium)
Professional Affiliations
- Rho Chi Pharmacy Honor Society
- Sigma Xi Research Honor Society
- American Association of Cancer Research (AACR)
- Minorities in Cancer Research (MICR)
- American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
Dr. Herman Fennell II.
Assistant Professor, Ph.D, Biological Sciences
Location: Dupont Hall 108
Expertise: Molecular Biology
Dr. Herman W. W. Fennell II received his Doctorate from Howard University investigating Oryza sativa and Arabidopsis thaliana Receptor for Activated C Kinase 1 (RACK1) Mediated Environmental Stress Signaling Pathways and received his M.S. and B.S. from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Animal Health Science with an emphasis in Breeding and Genetics investigating the Potential for Small-Scale Farmers to Produce Niche-Market Pork by using Alternative Diets, Breeds and Rearing Environments. Prior to joining Hampton University, Dr. Fennell was a T32 Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California-Davis investigating Leucine Rich-Repeats as a Putative Negative Regulator of the ErbB Family of Receptor for Tyrosine Kinases. He currently teaches Medical Biochemistry, Botany lectures and laboratories, Research Problems and Introduction to Biology laboratories. His research interest includes the investigation of Leucine Rich-Repeat Proteins which negatively regulate the ErbB family of receptor for tyrosine kinases in breast cancer. He also has expertise in Plant Molecular Biology research investigating RACK1, which mediates environmental stress signaling pathways in rice causing the plant to be resistant to drought and salt stress.
Dr. Qiang Le
Associate Professor, SET – Electrical and Computer Engineering
Location: Olin Engineering Building 318M
Ph.D. in ECE from the Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006
Research Interests
- Sensors’ management
- Multiple target tracking
- Data fusion
- Signals’ detection and estimation
- Image signal processing
- Parallel computing
Dr. Qiang Le received her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in May, 2006, S.M. in ECE from Gatech in 2004, and B.S. in EE from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1995. She also obtained S.M. in Computer Information Science from Clark Atlanta University in 2002. She is a SUN certified TM2 JavaTM 2 Platform Programmer since 2001. In August 2006, she joined Hampton University as an assistant professor in Electrical Engineering.
Research Projects
- Army Research Laboratory Cooperative Agreement Award # W911NF-09-2-0041: Low Complexity Track Initialization and Fusion for Multi-Modal Sensor Networks.
- NSF EEC Award #0934760: Collaborative Research: Development and Testing of Presage-Pedagogy-Process-Product Model to Assess the Effectiveness of Case Study Methodology in Achieving Learning Outcomes.
Selected Publications
- Q. Le and L.M. Kaplan. “Probability Hypothesis Density-Based Multitarget Tracking for Proximity Sensor Networks.”, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems,Vol.49.3 (2013): 1476-1496
- Q. Le and L.M. Kaplan, “Sensor selection for target localization in a network of proximity sensors and bearing sensors,” in Proceedings of SPIE DSS, Baltimore, ML, April 29-May 2, 2013
- B. Justin, C.S.Sankar, and Q.Le, ” Enhancing Minority Student Leadership Skills Using Case Studies”, Journal of Computer Information Systems, 51(1): 82-90, 2010
- L. M. Kaplan and Q. Le, “On exploiting propagation delays for passive target localization using bearings-only measurements”, Journal of Franklin Institute, Mar. 2005, vol.342, pp193–211.