{"id":22321,"date":"2013-06-21T11:37:49","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T15:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=22321"},"modified":"2014-08-04T10:49:24","modified_gmt":"2014-08-04T14:49:24","slug":"scientist-jason-parker-takes-the-reins-of-the-wright-state-research-institute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2013\/06\/21\/scientist-jason-parker-takes-the-reins-of-the-wright-state-research-institute\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientist Jason Parker takes the reins of the Wright State Research Institute"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Wright<\/a>

As the new director of the Wright State Research Institute, Jason Parker plans to lead WSRI through continued growth, while cultivating research talent.<\/p><\/div>\n

The day Jason Parker agreed to become the new director of the Wright State Research Institute (WSRI), he also became a father. His wife delivered the couple\u2019s first child following a frightening race to the hospital that had Parker thinking he may have to stop the car and deliver the baby himself.<\/p>\n

His wife delivered a healthy baby boy just 20 minutes after making it to the hospital, following what Parker called \u201ca wild ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, just a few weeks later, Parker is focusing much of his attention on WSRI, taking the reins of an organization on a wild ride of its own.<\/p>\n

In the six years since its inception, the research powerhouse has grown an explosive 550 percent, boasting a $20 million portfolio and nearly 70 scientists, engineers and other staff.<\/p>\n

Sprawling through a Beavercreek facility near campus and directly across from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, WSRI applies basic science to quickly address pressing, real-world problems. It serves as a gateway to expertise at Wright State University, marshaling resources from the university and elsewhere to solve problems ranging from combat fatigue to the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have scientific expertise in house that is remarkable and a testament to the potential of the Dayton region,\u201d Parker said. \u201cWe can also reach back into the Wright State University community, working with faculty and scientists to bring their research to defense and commercial sponsors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker, Ph.D., plans to lead WSRI through continued growth, while cultivating research talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we bring to the table is a customer-focused approach leveraging on research talent and near-term solutions,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to see us grow considerably. The goal is to double in size over the next five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWSRI is strategically positioned to work well with the military\u2014as well as government and industry\u2014because it has strong ties to the installation,\u201d said Robert Fyffe, Ph.D., Wright State\u2019s vice president for research and graduate studies.<\/p>\n

The institute can offer the resources of a major university, but with the speed of a defense contractor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be able to create solutions for our clients, as well as help grow the research profile of the university and bring more research dollars into the university to support staff, to support faculty, to support students,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n

A scientist used to new frontiers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Wright<\/a>

Jason Parker joined WSRI in 2012 as a medical physicist to lead its Neuroscience and Medical Imaging program.<\/p><\/div>\n

Parker had always dreamed of becoming a medical researcher who would make discoveries that have an impact on medicine and help the sick. After finding his depth in math and science at Manatee Community College, Parker went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., the nation\u2019s oldest technological university. There he obtained his bachelor\u2019s degree in applied physics with a focus on the medical applications of physics.<\/p>\n

Parker was well on his way to becoming an expert in medical imaging, the use of radiation to create images inside the body that can be used to diagnose disease and treat it. In obtaining his Ph.D. at the University of Florida, Parker wrote a dissertation on using new technologies to get a better view of the heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of challenges in creating detailed images of an organ that is in constant motion,\u201d Parker said. \u201cOur work was successful at creating snapshots of the heart at different stages of the cardiac cycle with greatly reduced motion blur.\u201d<\/p>\n

But after moving to Ohio in 2008, and working as the senior scientist for Kettering Health Network, Parker quickly began focusing on the brain, \u201cthe most complex and fascinating organ in the body,\u201d he said. By strengthening understanding of the brain, researchers and doctors hope to develop methods to combat debilitating brain diseases such as Alzheimer\u2019s, \u201cwhile also creating opportunities to expand the function and capabilities of the healthy brain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At Kettering, Parker grew a new, interdisciplinary translational research initiative focused on developing and applying emerging imaging techniques to improve the treatment of disease. While his imaging work involved monitoring how cancer tumors were affecting brain function and assessing the progress of the disease, Parker knew the future was in finding new applications for the technology.<\/p>\n

Parker soon began talking with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson about how imaging the brain could be used to study human performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a part of me that was interested in the entrepreneurial aspects of the science and making sure that the work scientists do is applied in a real-world setting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And that is when he met the Wright State Research Institute.<\/p>\n

In 2010 he found the \u201cideal collaborator\u201d in WSRI, he said, and agreed to author a proposal for a five-year, $5 million neuroscience imaging program for AFRL aimed at using imaging techniques to map the brain and study augmentation methods to improve the effectiveness of the warfighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew Wright State had a lot of capability to tap, and WSRI was flexible in pulling it together,\u201d he said. \u201cThe model really worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker had done previous research for the government on how sleep deprivation affects human cognition, especially in the areas of attention and working memory. Using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, Parker partnered with researchers at AFRL and other organizations to perform studies on how basic functional and chemical properties of the brain were related to the negative effects of fatigue on the brain. The research found that while lack of sleep causes loss of cognitive ability and performance for most people, there are some people in which it doesn\u2019t, and that those people tend to have a different brain activity pattern from the rest of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the people you want flying your planes and unmanned vehicles and making decisions when you have a major conflict that\u2019s going on for a long period of time, and they haven\u2019t slept for 30 hours,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n

After winning the contract, WSRI hired Parker in early 2012 as a medical physicist to lead its Neuroscience and Medical Imaging program, which it sees as its largest growth area.<\/p>\n

Customers and commercialization<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Wright<\/a>

Under Jason Parker's leadership, WSRI is developing partnerships to take technology out of the research and development stage and into industry.<\/p><\/div>\n

A solid scientist, Parker is also keenly aware of the need to focus on clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Parker\u2019s foundation is in science, but he brings business aspirations to the institute that make it clear he really understands how to translate entrepreneurial spirit into action,\u201d said Wright State University Provost S. Narayanan, Ph.D., P.E.<\/p>\n

Parker grew up in a Sarasota, Fla., where the tourism industry surrounding that beach community taught him the importance of a service-oriented culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe livelihoods of most of us there hinged on serving the needs of customers\u2014real estate, retail, food service,\u201d said Parker, who spent many years in the restaurant industry and whose parents both worked in real estate. That\u2019s an important value he says defines his approach to business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to grow our defense contracting activities by staying committed to creating quality solutions for our customers, while expanding our collaboration with the state and other government agencies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But in thinking of new frontiers for WSRI, and \u201chow we\u2019re going to be positioned to play in the world 30 years from now,\u201d WSRI\u2019s biggest opportunity is in commercializing research, Parker said.<\/p>\n

WSRI is developing partnerships to take technology out of the research and development stage and into industry, much like an incubator.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in the Dayton region and throughout Ohio, we have great infrastructure to do this and really boost the economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On the job, Parker plans to create excitement around WSRI\u2019s activities, cultivate talented employees and help its researchers understand how important their work is to medicine and the nation\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited about the future of WSRI,\u201d Parker said. \u201cThe last five years have laid a foundation for the institute in research and development that we intend to leverage and build upon. The capabilities, infrastructure and, most importantly, people are all in place to position our organization for another five years of explosive growth.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As director of the Wright State Research Institute, Jason Parker plans to lead WSRI through continued growth, while fostering research talent. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":22325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[725,715,18,719,2024,734],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news","category-research","category-special-categories","category-staff","category-wsri"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22321"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32317,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22321\/revisions\/32317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}