Meet CIHI Team

Dr. Jacob Luber brings an extensive research program that builds computational tools and frameworks that, at a massive scale, allow for cancer imaging data to be 1) contextualized in the oncology clinic to improve patient outcomes and 2) leveraged at the bench to augment drug discovery efforts. There exist petabytes of openly available cancer imaging data, but at this scale, the search and utilization of this data are challenging. After his undergraduate degree in computer science at Trinity University, Dr. Luber earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Informatics at Harvard University, where he was a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow.
His dissertation initially focused on developing linear programming algorithms to make genome assembly algorithms more efficient and cost-effective. Dr. Luber conducted his post-doctoral research at the Cancer Data Science Laboratory at The National Cancer Institute of The National Institutes of Health in the area of cancer imaging using machine learning. His focus areas are building search engines for petabyte-scale cancer imaging, building deep learning tools that are relevant in the oncology clinic and for drug discovery efforts at the bench, and studying how the microbiome contributes to patient response to cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Luber’s research has appeared on NPR Science Friday and has been profiled in The New York Times, Scientific American, CNN, The Los Angeles Times, ArsTechnica, Forbes, Der Spiegel, PBS, and The Guardian.

Dr. Ogan Gurel has had a wide-ranging career spanning clinical medicine, scientific research, industry and academia. He currently serves as a BioHealth Innovation Specialist at the University of Texas – Arlington and the Center for Innovation in Health Informatics (CIHI). Dr. Gurel has had an extensive career in healthcare innovation with familiar names such as IBM, Samsung, Booz Allen as well as dozens of startups worldwide. Bridging the worlds of industry and academia, he has also held previous academic appointments as a Visiting Professor at the Solbridge International School of Business, Vice-Chair & Distinguished Invited Professor in the Management of Innovation program at DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology) as well as Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois – Chicago and Roosevelt University. Dr. Gurel’s over 35 years of experience spans multiple sectors: biomedical science, clinical medicine, strategy consulting, marketing, business development, executive management, marketing, and R&D management, with domain expertise in medical devices, digital healthcare, healthcare IT, molecular biophysics, and medical imaging. Prior to surgical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Gurel obtained an MD degree Alpha Omega Alpha from the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, also doing graduate work in structural biology (M.Phil degree) and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemical Sciences cum laude from Harvard College working with Prof. Martin Karplus (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013). Authoring 14 peer-reviewed scholarly papers (as well as a novel, Waves), presenting nearly 200 conference proceedings, and co-inventor on ten patent applications (four granted), Dr. Gurel has also given keynote addresses and other speeches at scientific and business conferences and seminars worldwide. He has taught the mini-MD, a comprehensive overview of medicine for healthcare professionals for the past decade in locations worldwide, including South Korea, the United States, Italy, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.

Daegan Blood is an Administrative Assistant for the Center and an Alumnus of UTA. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in History in 2021, he went on to work as a Support Specialist in the Information Systems and Operations Management Department at UTA. With a background in various administrative fields, including his work in operations for a non-profit organization and interpersonal skills from retail, he brings many unique and varied perspectives to his role. Daegan joined CIHI in July 2023 and uses his knowledge and expertise to continue and enhance the mission of the Center.

Dr. Soroush Ghaffari is an experienced veterinarian (D.V.M) trained in laboratory animals, small animal medicine, diagnostic imaging, and surgery. For the past five years, he has been researching in the field of immune-oncology and obtained his Ph.D. in Dec 2021.

He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Dr. Jon Weidanz’s lab, where he can continually explore a wide breadth of exciting topics while helping other team members achieve their scientific goals. Some of his projects include developing and characterizing immunotherapeutic agents, such as TCRm antibodies, soluble T-cell receptors, and multifunctional (multispecific) antibodies for targeting HLA loaded with cancer-specific peptides. His most recent accomplishment was the development of the llama antibody, which can be used to treat some of murine tumors such as colorectal and lymphoma. This antibody works as an immune checkpoint blockader for murine non-classical MHC-Ia (Qa-1b/Qdm), an ortholog of human HLAE. This breakthrough discovery led to a prestigious research award and sponsorship from Boehringer-Ingelheim, which will allow them to answer other questions in the field of immune-oncology.

Mohammad Nasr holds a MS and BS from Sharif University. He is co-mentored by Manfred Huber, Ph.D.