Research Team
Sung W. Rhee, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator)
Dr. Rhee has a unique interdisciplinary training in physics, molecular biology, advanced imaging and vascular pharmacology. His main goal is to understand and find new therapeutic uses for ion channels in vascular smooth muscle cells during hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. His current interest is vasodilator complexes in cerebral arteries that may be important in protection against stroke.
Kelly Ball, M.S. (Research Associate)
Ms. Ball received her B.S. in Biology at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and her MS in Microbiology from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She has worked in biomedical research at UAMS for over 20 years. During that time she has studied spinal cord regeneration with Dr. John Houle in the Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences; the trafficking of glucose metabolites in the brain with Dr. Gerald Dienel in the Department of Neurology, and novel therapies for glial tumors and stroke with Dr. Michael Borrelli in the Department of Radiology. She joined Dr. Rhee’s lab full time in April 2018 studying cerebral blood flow, hypertension, and stroke.
Past Team Members
David Henry, Ph.D., M.P.H.
David has successfully defended his thesis. He received his B.S. at Davidson College and his M.P.H. at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
Christopher Moore, Ph.D.
Christopher received his Ph.D. in 2015 and is now a Research Writer in the UAMS Department of Geriatrics.
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Samantha McClenahan, Ph.D
Samantha is now a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University.