Advisors

Paul Sorgen, PhD, serves as Principal Investigator for the Nebraska IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence award. Dr. Sorgen received his BS (Zoology, 1993) and Ph.D. (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 1999) from the University of Florida. Upon graduation, Dr. Sorgen became a Research Associate (Department of Biochemistry) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and was supported by a NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2003, Dr. Sorgen obtained a tenure track faculty position in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and is currently a Professor with tenure (since 2013). Dr. Sorgen has developed and maintains a nationally funded research program through awards from the National Institutes of Health (R01s) as well as the American Heart Association and State of Nebraska. His lab is committed to advancing our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of gap junction regulation, with particular interest in protein-protein interactions mediated by the carboxyl terminal domain of connexins. Over the past two decades, he have been productive in this area of research, and has been instrumental in the development of new molecular and atomic models to explain the process of gap junction channel assembly, gating, and degradation. He has biophysically characterized and solved the structures of several connexin-related peptides, proteins, and protein/protein complexes that have provided mechanistic insight into the regulation of gap junctions. In recognition of his scientific accomplishments, Dr. Sorgen has received the Distinguished New Scientist Award (UNMC, 2009) and Distinguished Scientist Award (UNMC, 2011).

Dr. Amy Whitney is the Director of the UND Center for Innovation. She is focused on leading the UND Center for Innovation to the next level by using her entrepreneurial and creative problem solving skills and background in town-gown relationship building. She oversees a vibrant center supporting entrepreneurs, students and faculty members in Grand Forks and across North Dakota.

Before joining the Center for Innovation, Whitney was Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Clark University in Worcester, MA. for seven years where she worked on curriculum development, hiring adjunct faculty, strategic planning, student mentorship and business creation, and collaboration with the community, alumni and the university.

Before joining Clark University, Whitney served as an adjunct faculty member teaching online management courses at the Community College of Vermont in Montpelier from 2002 to 2016. In addition, she served as state program coordinator for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in Boston and Texas, from 2002 to 2009, and as executive director for the MADD Greater Boston Chapter from 1998 to 2002.

Daniel Engebretson, Ph.D. is the vice president for research and sponsored programs for the University of South Dakota. In his new role, Engebretson is expanding the number of research disciplines that will directly affect South Dakota’s economy. Most recently, Engebretson served as chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at USD and founding director of the Graduate Education and Applied Research (GEAR) Center in Sioux Falls. In 2017, Engebretson launched an associate degree program and a baccalaureate program in 2019 to support the biotech/medtech industry in Sioux Falls and to grow the workforce in the field. He has served as an advisor and mentor to dozens of graduate students, six of whom have started their own biotech/medtech companies in South Dakota. While at USD, Engebretson has been recognized for his outstanding research, including USD’s 2019 President’s Award for Research & Innovation. Tailored Medical Devices, a company he founded with USD graduate students Jordan Anderson and Sujan Lamichhane, received a $225,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a USD-owned technology for the treatment of vascular disease. In total, Engebretson has received more than $3.6 million in SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards. He has also served on the leadership team for two Governor’s Research Centers – the Center for Research and Development of Light-Activated Materials (CRDLM) and the Biosystems Networks/Translational Research (BioSNTR). He holds a doctorate in physical chemistry from Michigan State University.