Scientific Team
The caliber of our Scientific Board continues to enhance our goal of becoming the leader in the field of insulin resistance research leading to new pharmaceutical treatments.
Emmanuel C. Opara, PhD. (Chairman)
Research Professor of Biomedical Science
Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Engineering
Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, Illinois
University of London (UK) 1975
PhD 1983
Mayo Clinic - Rochester MN (3 years)
National Institutes of Health - Bethesda, MD (2 years)
Duke University Medical School - Durham NC (15 years),
Pritzker Institute Biomedical Engineering - Illinois Institute of Technology (2004 to present)
Dr. Opara’s broad area of research interest can be summarized as diabetes, nutrition and metabolism. Opara’s research interest is antioxidant biology and disease, with a specific focus on the role played by oxygen free radicals in the pathogenesis of diabetes and digestive disorders.
In addition to his work with our company, Dr. Opara’s research focus is the development of a bioartificial pancreas as a treatment/cure for Type 1 diabetes. Tremendous effort is devoted to developing cell encapsulation and cryopreservation procedures, as well as other procedures, devices, and biomaterials to enhance the clinical realization of this research objective.
Ishwarlal Jialal, MD, PhD, DABCC, FACB
Director, Atherosclerosis & Metabolic Research
Professor of Pathology & Internal Medicine
University of California - Davis Medical Center
Ishwarlal Jialal, MD, PhD, DABCC, FACB, is the Robert E. Stowell Endowed Chair in Experimental Pathology, director of the laboratory for atherosclerosis and metabolic research, and professor of pathology and internal medicine at the University of California, Davis Medical Center. He is internationally recognized for his research, which has focused on free radical biology and antioxidants in disease, lipid biochemistry and atherosclerosis, diabetic macrovascular disease, and inflammation.
Dr. Jialal’s scientific expertise has been recognized through appointments to several editorial boards, including Clinical Chemistry, American Journal of Clinical Pathology, Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications, and Atherosclerosis. He has published more than 285 original papers and invited reviews in the areas of clinical biochemistry, atherosclerosis, metabolism, and free radical biology.
Dr. Jialal has received numerous awards for his work, including the American Heart Association’s Young Investigator Award, Outstanding Clinical Chemist Award from the Texas Section of the AACC, Bennie Zak Award for Outstanding Research from the AACC’s Lipids and Lipoproteins Division, and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry.
Samuel E. Dagogo-Jack, MD, FRCP
Professor of Medicine
Associate Director, General Clinical Research Center
University of Tennessee College of Medicine
Dr. Dagogo-Jack is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, American Board of Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Residency: (Internal Medicine) The Royal Victoria Infirmary, University of Newcastle upon Tyne in England where he was also Registrar in Medicine (Endocrinology). Fellowship: (Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism) Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. Academic Title: Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism and Co-Director, General Clinical Research Center, University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences, Memphis, TN.
Dr. Dagogo-Jack has been elected to fellowships of the Royal College of Physicians of London, the Royal Society of Medicine, and the American College of Physicians. He has served as a chapter president of the American Diabetes Association (St Louis Chapter, 1998-2000). Chair (Endocrinology Section) of the Central Society for Clinical Research (1999-2001).
Dr. Dagogo-Jack is an active member of the Endocrine Society and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.
Michael T. Watkins, MD, FACS
Director, Vascular Surgery Research Laboratory
Harvard Medical School
Associate Professor of Surgery
Johns Hopkins Hospital 1980-1984
University of Rochester, Strong Memorial Hospital 1984-1986
Massachusetts General Hospital 1986-1987
Dr. Watkins obtained his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School in 1980. His surgical residency was completed at the Johns Hopkins and Strong Memorial Hospitals. He completed his clinical vascular fellowship at MGH in 1987. From 1987 through 1991, Dr Watkins completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Cell Biology, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at the Mallory Institute of Pathology at Boston University.
After completing this postdoctoral training, Dr. Watkins started his own laboratory at the Boston VA Medical Center, where he secured extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health, VA Merit Review, and the American Heart Association. He served as Chief of Vascular Surgery at the Boston VA Medical Center from 1998 through 2002, where he was also program director of an independent vascular surgery fellowship. In 2002, Dr. Watkins returned to the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to direct the vascular surgery research laboratory.
He is a member of the Society of University Surgeons, Society of Black Academic Surgeons, and the Society of Vascular Surgery. He is a current member of the Surgery and Bioengineering Study Section of the National Institutes of Health.
M. K. Ramasubramanian, PhD
Director, Mechatronics Program
Associate Professor
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
North Carolina State University
Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Syracuse University, 1987
M.S., Applied Science, Miami University, 1983
Dr. M. K. Ramasubramanian’s research interests are in Bio-Mechatronics, Bio-MEMS, Biomimetics, Tissue Engineering, and Bio-Manufacturing.
Dr. Ramasubramanian, working in cooperation with RSI Vice President Dr. Emmanuel C. Opara, our scientific team leader, is responsible for our unique engineering design and patented manufacturing technique. This, first of its’ kind equipment, is utilized for the manufacturing of RSI’s patented drug delivery method. The engineering design may enable us to manufacture certain products for other pharmaceutical companies seeking a more efficient and potent drug delivery system.
