Marshall Institute for Interdisciplinary Research

John M. Maher, Ph.D.

Interim Director

Dr. John Maher is the vice president for research at Marshall University and the executive director of the Marshall University Research Corporation. In August 2011, he was appointed interim director of the Marshall Institute for Interdisciplinary Research.

From 2003-07, Dr. Maher was the executive director of the Chemical Alliance Zone, a statewide collaborative devoted to economic development in the chemical and allied sectors.

Previously, he worked for 21 years at the Union Carbide Corporation, serving in a broad range of technical and managerial assignments in areas as diverse as catalysis research, plant technology support, intellectual property management, capital project execution and new business development.

Dr. Maher received an A.B. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in organic/organometallic chemistry from Harvard University.

Jingwei Xie, Ph.D.

Research Scientist

Dr. Jingwei Xie joined the institute in early 2011.

He received his B.S. (1999) and M.S. (2002) from Nanjing University of Technology in China. He earned his doctorate in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the National University of Singapore. Dr. Xie’s doctoral research was focused on the development of biomedical devices using electrohydrodynamic atomization technique. After graduation, he joined the Xia group at Washington University in St. Louis as a postdoctoral fellow, working on the fabrication of nanostructured materials by electrospinning technique, with a focus on their biomedical applications in peripheral nerve injury repair, tendon-to-bone insertion repair, differentiation of stem cells, wound healing and drug delivery. He is the co-inventor on three patents, was co-investigator of a National Institutes of Health-funded pilot project and has co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Dr. Xie’s group at the institute focuses on the development of novel biomaterials for applications in nanoregenerative medicine and drug/gene delivery.

Bing Ma, M.D., Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Bing Ma joined the institute in 2011 to work in the lab of Dr. Jingwei Xie, where his research interests include the application of nanofibers to wound healing.

He received his B.Sc. in medicine (1992), and his M.Sc. (2001) and Ph.D. (2005), both in wound repair, from the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, China. While at the university, he studied the molecular mechanism of postburn hypertrophic scar. In 2005, he opened the Department of Burn Injury and Plastic Surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, where they developed special techniques for applying microsurgery on wounds from burn injuries, chronic wounds, trauma, tumors and congenital conditions. 

Paula Livingston

Research Technician

Paula Livingston received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2006 from Florida Atlantic University. In 2009, she received her master’s in science in chemistry from Florida Atlantic University. Her thesis was focused on the kinetics of two protein tyrosine phosphatases.

Praveesuda Michael

Research Technician

Praveesuda Michael received a bachelor’s degree in biological science from Mahidol University in Thailand in 2008. In 2011, she received her master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Cornell University. At the institute, she is working in the lab of Dr. Jingwei Wei on the cardiac patch, cell transfection, and nanofiber absorption and release projects.

Haley Perry

Research Technician

Haley Perry received her bachelor’s degree in science from Drexel University in June 2009. She currently is assisting with a variety of applications of gene editing.