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Barbara Jean O'Kane

Professor

Oral Biology

Barbara O'Kane

Contact

BarbaraOKane@creighton.edu
School of Dentistry
Oral Biology
Faculty - Dentistry
Oral Biology (Master of Science)
Graduate School
SOD - School of Dentistry

Barbara Jean O'Kane

Professor

Oral Biology

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.

Department

Oral Biology

Position

Professor

Articles

  • 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