Program Leadership

Dr. Bryan Mackenzie

Academic Director 
Professor
bryan.mackenzie@uc.edu

Hello, I'm Bryan Mackenzie. I serve as Academic Director of the SMP in physiology. I am the course director for Interprofessional Education in the fall semester, and for Statistics & Experimental Design in the spring semester. I also teach in Graduate Medical Physiology. I actively serve as an adviser to students in the SMP.

My research program explores the molecular physiology of iron transport, absorption, and homeostasis. Iron metabolism is of major public-health significance because of the huge worldwide prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia, and also common hereditary disorders that lead to iron overload and consequent organ damage. My lab focuses on the mechanisms and structure–function of the iron transporters divalent metal-ion transporter-1 (DMT1)—responsible for cellular iron uptake in the intestine, erythroid precursor cells, and many other cell types—and ferroportin, a cellular iron exporter that delivers iron to the blood plasma from enterocytes and macrophages. Approaches in my lab include functional assays in RNA-injected Xenopus oocytes expressing iron transporters, and iron absorption and homeostasis in genetically modified mouse models.

Dr. Katie Hobbing

Associate Director
Admissions | Professional Development
Associate Professor- Educator
katie.hobbing@uc.edu

Hello! I am an associate professor educator in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neurobiology and serve as Associate Director of the Special Master's Program in Physiology.  I have the wonderful opportunity to serve as chair of the Admissions Committee as well as oversee professional development.  As course director for Professional Development (spring), I help SMP students with application planning, interview preparation, along with personal statement support.

Dr. Roger T. Worrell

Associate Director
Capstone | Faculty Mentoring
Associate Professor
roger.worrell@uc.edu

Hello, I am Roger Worrell, and I serve as Associate Director of the SMP in physiology. I am also the capstone course director, and facilitate the faculty mentoring program. My research expertise centers around epithelial ion transport in health and disease, with primary interest in intestinal transport and its relation to microbial niche development and maintenance, as well as interest in renal transport mechanisms. Research methods employed in these areas include cellular, cultured organoid, organ, and whole animal levels. Focus is both on mechanisms and regulation in health as well as in disease states. Disease states include but are not limited to; Cystic Fibrosis, hypertension, endocrine disorders, hepatic encephalopathy, and diarrhea (C. difficile) and intestinal microbial dysbiosis. Professionally, I have been actively involved in the American Physiological Society (APS) since my graduate school days and have been an active member of The Ohio Physiological Society (OPS) since 2001.

Dr. Robert Banks

Founding Director of the SMP
Professor Emeritus
Robert.Banks@uc.edu

Hello, I'm Bob Banks, Professor Emeritus of Physiology. I have been very involved in UC's Special Master's Program in Physiology since its inception in the fall of 2006. Although I have stepped down as program director,I continue to stay involved in the program and remain committed to helping each of you succeed in achieving your long-term goals. My research expertise is cardiovascular and renal physiology and, although I no longer have an active laboratory, I remain very interested in these fields.