Dr. Barbara J. O’Kane is an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Oral Biology at Creighton University School of Dentistry in Omaha NE. She is currently Course Director for the D1 Neuroscience and also teaches in the D1 Gross Anatomy and Head and Neck courses. Research areas of interest are mesenchymal stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells and tumor stem cells. She is also involved in educational research for the improvement of learning outcomes for professional students. Prior to joining the faculty at Creighton University, Dr. O’Kane was at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha NE where she taught in the Gross Anatomy and Histology courses for first year medical students and conducted research in several areas of adult stem cells. Dr. O’Kane received her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her Dissertation was entitled Bone Marrow Metastases in Breast Cancer.
Research Focus
Research areas of interest are mesenchymal stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells and tumor stem cells.
Experimental hematology Farrell, T. L., McGuire, T. R., Bilek, L., Brusnahan, S. K., Jackson, J. D., Lane, J. T., Garvin, K. L., O'Kane, B. J., Berger, A. M., Tuljapurkar, S. R., Kessinger, M. A., Sharp, J. G. Changes in the frequencies of human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells with age and site 42, p. 146-154 2014
Stem Cell Discovery Barbara J O’Kane, Marcel D DeVetten, John J Jackson, Jordan P Lacy, Tracy L Farrell, John G Sharp. Multipotential mesenchymal stromal cells (MMSC) ameliorate graft versus host disease in a mouse model, but major of GVHD permits leukemic relapse. 4, p. 37-43 2014
Experimental hematology Tracy L. Farrell, Timothy R. McGuire, Laura D. Bilek, Susan K. Brusnahan, John D. Jackson, Judy T. Lane, Kevin L. Garvin, Barbara J. O’Kane, Ann M. Berger, Sonal R. Tuljapurkara,M. Anne Kessinger, and John Graham Sharp. Changes in the frequencies of human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells with age and site. 42, p. 146-154 2014
PLoS One Mukhopadhyay, Partha, Farrell, Tracy, Sharma, Gayatri, McGuire, Timothy R., O'Kane, Barbara, Sharp, J. G. Heterogeneity of Functional Properties of Clone 66 Murine Breast Cancer Cells Expressing Various Stem Cell Phenotypes 8, p. e78725 2013
PLoS One Mukhopadhyay, Partha, Tracy Farrell, Gayatri Sharma, Timothy McGuire, Barbara O’Kane, J Graham Sharp. Heterogeneity of functional properties of Clone 66 murine breast cancer cells expressing various stem cell phenotypes. Vol 8 (11), p. 1-15 2013
Stem Cell Discovery S Tuljaputkar, J. Jackson, S Brusnahan, B O’Kane & J Sharp. Characterization of a mesenchymal stem cell line that differentiates to bone and provides niches supporting mouse and human hematopoietic cells. Vol 2 No 1, p. 5-14 2012
Maternal Child Nursing McGuire TR, Brusnahan SK, Bilek LD, Jackson JD, Kessinger MA, Berger AM, Garvin KL, O’Kane BJ, Tuljapurkar SR, Sharp JG. Inflammation Associated with Obesity: Relationship with Blood and Bone Marrow Endothelial Cells. Obesity 2011 2011
Journal of Anatomy Sonal R Tuljapurkar; Susan K Brusnahan; Kevin L Garvin; John D Jackson; Margaret A Kessinger; James T Lane; Timothy R McGuire; Barbara J O' Kane; John G Sharp. Changes in human bone marrow fat content associated with changes in hematopoietic stem cell numbers and cytokine levels with aging. 219 (5), p. 574-81 2011
Mechanisms of Ageing and Development Brushnahan SK., McGuire TR, Jackson JD, Lane JT, Garvin KL, O’Kane BJ, Berger AM, Tuljapukar SR, Kessinger MA, Sharp JG. Human blood and marrow side population stem cell numbers decline with age, with an increase in quality of surviving stem cells: Correlation with cytokines. 131, p. 718-22 2010
Presentations
PUETZ III, William J., Laura C. Barritt, Jason M. Kum, Sonia M. Sanchez, Shikha Tarang, Barbara J. OKane. Department of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA. TREM-1 and TREM-2 protein expression in human gingival tissue. University Research Day/St Alberts Day April 2015, Creighton University, Omaha NE 68178 2015
PUETZ III, William J., Laura C. Barritt, Jason M. Kum, Sonia M. Sanchez, Shikha Tarang, Barbara J. OKane. Department of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA. TREM-1 and TREM-2 protein expression in human gingival tissue. AACA Henderson, NV. 2015 2015
Kum, Jason M., Laura C. Barritt, William J. Puetz, Sonia M. Sanchez, Shikha Tarang, and Barbara J. OKane. Determination of Expression of TREM-1 and TREM-2 in Oral Keratinocytes. Department of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA. AACA Henderson NV. 2015. 2015
Massie H. Jesse and Barbara J OKane. Dept. of Oral Biology, Creighton University School of Dentistry. Primary culture of oral mucosa using the direct explant technique. American Association of Clinical Anatomists. Orlando FL. July 2014 2014
Master of Oral Biology, Anatomic science track: A path to addressing the need for dental educators. Margaret A. Jergenson, Laura C. Barritt, Neil S. Norton, Barbara J. OKane and Mark A. Latta. American Association of Anatomists. Orlando FL July 2014. 2014
Massie H. Jesse and Barbara J OKane. Dept. of Oral Biology, Creighton University School of Dentistry. Primary culture of oral mucosa using the direct explant technique. University Research Day/St Alberts Day April 2014, Creighton University, Omaha NE 68178 2014
Leukemic Relapse Following MMSC Rescue In A Murine Model Of GVHD Barbara OKane, Marcel DeVetten, John Jackson, Jordan Lacy, J Graham Sharp Creighton University School of Dentistry, Omaha NE. University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha NE. Wake Forest School of Medicine, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Winston Salem NC. American Association of Anatomists 2013, Boston Massachusetts 2013
Effect of Various Modes of Exercise on the Mobilization of Stem Cells Barbara OKane , Patrick Passarelli, Molly Lang, Susan Brusnahan, Laura Bilek. Dept of Oral Biology Creighton University, Omaha NE and UNMC, Omaha NE. American Association of Anatomists 2011, Washington DC 2011