Giving back through Junior Scientist Day
April 2nd, 2026
As part of the labs commitment to outreach and hosting budding scientists, Aleena and Dave participated in the OMRF junior scientist day last month. We hosted a junior scientist from the Putnam City school district, who performed their first-ever experiment in our lab.
Aleena guided the student in a task that involved extracting DNA from a strawberry, using dishwasher soap, rubbing alcohol and a coffee filter. As hosts, we also performed experiments about enzymatic reactions by using yeast and hydrogen peroxide.
Lastly, the event provided time to give our junior scientist hands on experience within the wet lab and seeing some of the tools that scientists use, such as using pipettes.
OMRF created Junior Scientist Days after the district designated OMRF as beneficiary of its Putnam City Cancer Drive in 1975. Since then, the effort has raised $4 million for cancer research at OMRF. That research has led, among other things, to an experimental brain cancer drug now undergoing clinical trials.
Hughes Lab welcomes new members to the group
March 3rd, 2026
Aleena Ali (BA) and Emma Sanderson (BSc) joined the group in the last few months, after graduating from the University of Oklahoma, bringing with them very different backgrounds and experience.
Aleena gained research experience in a proteomics core as part of the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) during her undergraduate degree. Emma was able to gain research experience in the field of cancer therapeutics as part of her degree course. Aleena and Emma have future aspirations to develop their careers via attending Medical School and pursuing a PhD degree respectively.
OMRF adds new principal scientist who will study muscles and aging
July 17, 2025
David Hughes, Ph.D., has joined the scientific faculty of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation as an assistant professor in OMRF’s Aging and Metabolism Research Program.
Hughes studies the molecular causes of muscle loss. He first came to OMRF as a research assistant professor in 2023 to work in the lab of his mentor, Sue Bodine, Ph.D., when she joined the foundation from the University of Iowa.
With this promotion, Hughes will open his own independent laboratory. In it, he’ll focus on how specific proteins contribute to the loss of muscle, especially in aging.
“I’ve had a front-row seat to Dr. Hughes’ career progression for nearly a decade,” Bodine said. “He has brought countless insights to my lab, and now I am confident he will do the same for our entire Aging and Metabolism Research Program.”
Hughes, a native of England, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Manchester Metropolitan University and his doctorate from the University of Bedfordshire.