ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½

James Ricky Cox, PhD, The Anna S. Brown and Ruth B. Logan Endowed Chair in Pre-Medicine 

Dr. Ricky Cox joined the Department of Chemistry at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ in 1999 and has a significant record of research and scholarly activity in the areas of antibiotic resistance, protein biochemistry and teaching with technology. His disciplinary work has been published in journals such as Biochemistry, Chemistry and Biology and the Journal of Physical Chemistry. His efforts to improve teaching and learning and develop innovative technology-based instructional techniques have been published in journals such as the Journal of Chemical Education, Journal of College Science Teaching, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education and the Teaching Professor Newsletter. Dr. Cox’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network, American Chemical Society-Petroleum Research Fund, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft Research. 

Dr. Cox has won the Board of Regents Award for Teaching Excellence for the College of Science, Engineering and Technology and served as the Teaching Scholar-in-Residence and Interim Director in the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology. In 2007, he was named Outstanding College or University Teacher by the Kentucky Academy of Science. In 2008, he was awarded the Karl F. Hussung Professorship in Chemistry and named the Kentucky Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. In 2011, Dr. Cox was named the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Distinguished Professor (presented by the Alumni Association) and the Max Carman Outstanding Teacher (presented by the Student Government Association) for his work with students inside the classroom and in the research laboratory. In 2023, Dr. Cox was named the Omicron Delta Kappa Faculty Advisor of the Year for his work with pre-health programs at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½.  He has also served on the Advisory Board of the Teaching Professor Conference and Chair and Past-Chair of this national conference dedicated to teaching excellence and the dissemination of effective educational methods in higher education. For many years, he served on the Editorial Review Board for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, a leading journal in biochemistry educational initiatives.

Teaching Excellence

Dr. Cox has been involved in several initiatives to improve instructional and learning environments in the science classroom and laboratory.  He used grants from Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft to develop teaching methods and programs involving tablet PCs and pen-based technologies.  He also published several papers on the role of molecular visualization in the teaching of biomolecular structure and function. Dr. Cox is always trying to develop new ways of teaching and designing courses to improve student learning, engagement, and success.  Some examples include:

Biochemistry in Context (Biochemistry I and II):  By their nature, biochemistry courses are heavy in content and providing important context can be challenging. As a result, students complete assignments that provide important context about numerous topics covered in the courses.  Examples include writing assignments (for the general public) about adderall, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Parkinson's disease, the blue Fugates of Kentucky, Warburg effect, and the role of fructose in obesity.

Amazing Race (Biochemistry II): Sometimes you just have to mix it up!  In this exercise, students form teams and are given a series of questions to answer.  In a nod to the TV show, Amazing Race, students are given step #1 questions and work as a team to answer the questions.  They provide answers orally to Dr. Cox and if the answers are satisfactory, the team gets the next set of questions to answer.  The first team to come to Dr. Cox's office and correctly answer the questions for the last step (usually six or seven steps) is declared a winner and team members get a prize. 

Patient Encounters (Molecular Pharmacology): Typically, students in this class are future physicians and will eventually interact with patients in a variety of settings.  Also, the number of drugs to treat diseases and disorders are expanding. One example of this activity is where students investigate the use, pharmacology, and mechanism of action of newer medications for the treatment of migraines (gepants, monoclononal antibodies, and ditans).  Students pretend they are practicing physicians and have a patient suffering from migraine headaches.  They have a simulated patient encounter where they explain to the "patient" which drug will be prescribed and its benefits and side effects. The fake patient is someone the students have never met and have experienced migraine headaches.

Biomedical Research

For many years, Dr. Cox maintained a robust research program with both undergraduate and graduate students. His work spanned the broad areas of antibiotic resistance, protein biochemistry and molecular recognition. His research group collaborated with Dr. Gerry Wright (McMaster University in Canada) to better understand the mechanism and action of enzymes involved in antibiotic resistance and their molecular determinants of inhibition.  Another collaboration with Dr. Greg Tschumper (while at the University of Mississippi) revealed the importance and energetic aspects of pi-stacking interactions in important biological molecules.

Dr. Cox served as a co-PI on a current National Science Foundation (Major Research Instrumentation) Grant that brought a new 400 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer to the campus of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. This instrument has impacted the research efforts of faculty members at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ and across the region. This instrument has also allowed the chemistry department to add additional laboratory experiments and expand others in the areas of organic, polymer and synthetic chemistry. 

Support of the Pre-Medical/Health Curriculum

As the Brown-Logan Endowed Chair, Dr. Cox plays many roles in the pre-health curricula.  For example, he serves as the faculty advisor to the Pre-Health Professionals  (PHP) Club that supports pre-med and pre-dent students.  PHP meetings provide students with resources and information concerning personal statements and student competencies and feature guest speakers such as physicians/dentists and representatives from various medical and dental schools.  PHP also offers a mentoring program where senior students support new students.  PHP also helps students connect with offices on campus such as the Purchase Area Health Education Center (Purchase AHEC).  This office offers reduced price MCAT/DAT prep and assists students in finding shadowing opportunities.  Dr. Cox works closely with Dr. Gary ZeRuth (Houston Endowed Professor) to support many pre-health initiatives that promotes student growth and success.  He also serves as a liaison to the medical and dental schools in the state to make sure students have academic and professional experiences that align with the mission statement of the schools.