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WesternU Campuses Oregon and California

Basic Medical Sciences Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine

Basic Medical Sciences

The Department of Basic Medical Sciences is chaired by Dr. Nissar A. Darmani. COMP faculty and staff responsible for the Basic Medical Science portion of WesternU’s Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine curriculum are listed here with their contact information. For additional background information on selected faculty and staff, click on the name.


Departmental Contact
Nona S. Williamson, Manager
Tel: (909) 469-5595
Fax: (909) 469-5698
nwilliamson@westernu.edu

Faculty & Staff

Portrait of Nissar A. Darmani, PhD

Nissar A. Darmani, PhD

COMP

Associate Dean, Basic Sciences and Research
Chair, Basic Medical Sciences
Professor of Pharmacology

Office#: (909) 469-5654 Lab#: (909) 469-5218

ndarmani@westernu.edu

Portrait of Michelle Steinauer, PhD

Michelle Steinauer, PhD

COMP-Northwest

Vice-Chair, Basic Medical Sciences
Associate Professor of Microbiology

msteinauer@westernu.edu

Portrait of Raj P. Kandpal, PhD

Raj P. Kandpal, PhD

COMP

Assistant Chair, Basic Medical Sciences
Professor of Biochemistry

Office#: (909) 706-3520 Lab#: (909) 706-3533

rkandpal@westernu.edu

Portrait of Devendra Agrawal, PhD, MBA, MS, FAAAAI, FAHA, FAPS, FIACS

Devendra Agrawal, PhD, MBA, MS, FAAAAI, FAHA, FAPS, FIACS

COMP

Professor and Director, Department of Translational Research

dagrawal@westernu.edu

Portrait of Xiaoning Bi, MD, PhD

Xiaoning Bi, MD, PhD

COMP

Professor of Physiology, Daljit and Elaine Sarkaria Endowed Professor in Neuroscience

Office#: (909) 469-5487 Lab#: (909) 469-5471

xbi@westernu.edu

Portrait of Manish Issar, PhD

Manish Issar, PhD

COMP

Associate Professor of Pharmacology

Office#: (909) 706-3752

missar@westernu.edu

Portrait of Jerome Lacroix, PhD

Jerome Lacroix, PhD

COMP

Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Office#: (909) 469-8201

jlacroix@westernu.edu

Portrait of Belinda McCully, PhD

Belinda McCully, PhD

COMP-Northwest

Assistant Professor of Physiology

bmccully@westernu.edu

WesternU Seal - Default Image

Mohamed Radwan Ahmed, MD,

COMP

Assistant Professor of Surgical and Translational Research

mradwanahmed@westernu.edu

Portrait of Vikrant Rai, PhD, MBBS

Vikrant Rai, PhD, MBBS

COMP

Research Assistant Professor in Translational Research

vrai@westernu.edu

Portrait of Colleen Talbot, PhD

Colleen Talbot, PhD

COMP-Northwest

Assistant Dean, Academic Affairs
Professor of Physiology

ctalbot@westernu.edu

WesternU Seal - Default Image

Finosh Thankam, PhD

COMP

Assistant Professor of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

fthankam@westernu.edu

Portrait of Gerald R. Thrush, PhD

Gerald R. Thrush, PhD

COMP

Professor of Immunology
Vice Dean, Academic Affairs

Office#: (909) 469-5374

gthrush@westernu.edu

Portrait of Rakesh Tiwari , PhD

Rakesh Tiwari , PhD

COMP-Northwest

Associate Professor of Pharmacology

rtiwari@westernu.edu

Portrait of Brian Wasko, PhD

Brian Wasko, PhD

COMP-Northwest

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry

bwasko@westernu.edu

Emeritus Faculty

Portrait of Jeffrey Felton, PhD

Jeffrey Felton, PhD

COMP

Professor of Microbiology (Emeritus)

Office#: (909) 469-5226

jfelton@westernu.edu

Portrait of Duane Foley, PhD

Duane Foley, PhD

COMP

Professor of Physiology (Emeritus)

Office#: (909) 469-5221

dfoley@westernu.edu

Portrait of Steven J. Henriksen, PhD

Steven J. Henriksen, PhD

COMP

Professor of Pharmacology (Emeritus)

Office#: (909) 469-5299

shenriksen@westernu.edu

Portrait of Glen Kisby, PhD

Glen Kisby, PhD

COMP-Northwest

Professor of Pharmacology (Emeritus)

gkisby@westernu.edu

Portrait of James Martin, Dr.rer.nat.

James Martin, Dr.rer.nat.

COMP

Professor of Physiology and Behavioral Sciences (Emeritus)

Office#: (909) 469-5229

jmartin@westernu.edu

Portrait of Stanley Wong, PhD

Stanley Wong, PhD

COMP

Professor of Pharmacology (Emeritus)

HPC# 2257

swong@westernu.edu

Support Staff

WesternU Seal - Default Image

Melissa Braga

COMP

Senior Research Assistant

mbraga@westernu.edu

Portrait of Jeannette Dowling

Jeannette Dowling

COMP

Administrative Associate I, Basic Medical Sciences

jdowling@westernu.edu

Portrait of Adrianna Flores

Adrianna Flores

COMP-Northwest

Coordinator of Anatomy, BMS, and Willed Body Program

floresa@westernu.edu

Portrait of Tammie McQuistan

Tammie McQuistan

COMP-Northwest

Research Lab Coordinator

tmcquistan@westernu.edu

Portrait of Nona Williamson, BS

Nona Williamson, BS

COMP

Manager, Basic Medical Sciences

(909) 469-5595

nwilliamson@westernu.edu

  • Chairman’s Corner

    Hello,

    I am Nissar A. Darmani, Chair of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences (BMS) and Associate Dean for for Research at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP-Pomona) both at our Pomona, California, and Lebanon, Oregon (COMP-Northwest) campuses at Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU). I joined COMP in February 2005 to help further develop and organize the well-established teaching mission of the department and to expand basic and clinical research. The department of BMS is one of two basic science departments operating at COMP, the other is the Department of Medical Anatomical Sciences (MAS). With 20 faculty members in the Department of BMS and 13 in the Department of Anatomy, the two departments cover the COMP preclinical curricular and research needs in medical biochemistry, microbiology, immunology, pharmacology, physiology and anatomical sciences for both Pomona and Lebanon campuses. Teaching, basic and clinical research is conducted in close collaboration between the various departments at COMP. COMP was established in 1977 with its two basic science departments, and was the first and founding college of Western University of Health Sciences. WesternU is deeply invested in the future and is rapidly expanding its campus in downtown Pomona, CA, and the class extension of COMP at the Lebanon, Oregon campus (COMP-Northwest). COMP-Northwest’s first class was inaugurated in August 2011.

    Education is one of our primary academic missions. Our approach to medical teaching is interprofessional education grounded with the philosophy that physicians are part of the Health Provider Team who must be well prepared, life-long learners who keep pace with the new advancements in the life sciences. We believe that this philosophy is the platform upon which future health care excellence is built. Another major mission of COMP is basic, translational and clinical research with bench to bedside approach.

    BMS and MAS faculty members have adopted a systems-based medical curriculum to integrate the basic and clinical sciences. This curriculum provides a firm scientific foundation for the medical education of our students and introduces our osteopathic medical students to the clinical world in their first two years of education through interactions with in-house and guest clinicians. Our faculty actively continues their engagement with the students electronically throughout their medical education. COMP is uniquely positioned to prepare well-educated and compassionate physicians and medical scientists who will develop into highly skilled future practitioners and innovators that will not only deliver effective health care but also become leaders of medicine.