Louisiana Via Research Day Book 2026

Program Moderator

Program Moderator

Supporters

Ray L. Morrison, DO, FACOS, DFACOS Dean, Louisiana Campus VCOM

Pawel Michalak, PhD Associate Dean for Biomedical Affairs & Research, Louisiana Campus VCOM

Ray L. Morrison, DO, FACOS, DFACOS, of Monroe, Louisiana, joined the faculty of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) as the founding dean for VCOM–Louisiana in July 2018. His subsequent leadership roles at the College have included associate vice president and vice president for College development and advancement in the Louisiana region, dean emeritus, and associate professor of surgery. In April 2025, Dr. Morrison returned to his role as dean for VCOM–Louisiana. Prior to joining VCOM, Dr. Morrison served as assistant dean of clinical education and chair of surgery at Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Lynchburg, Virginia. He also held the position of assistant professor of surgery in the Department of Rural and Family Practice at the University of North Texas Health Science Center–Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNTHSC/ TCOM) in Fort Worth, Texas.

Dr. Morrison currently serves as speaker of the House of Delegates for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), a role he has held for 17 years. In addition to his service as speaker, he has contributed to the AOA in numerous leadership capacities, including serving as a member or chair of the Bureau of State Government Affairs, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, the Committee on Governance and Organizational Structure, and the Bureau of Federal Health Programs. He also serves as vice chair of the Osteopathic Political Action Committee (OPAC). Dr. Morrison is an AOA board-certified surgeon, a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, and a past president of that organization.

Pawel Michalak, PhD, serves as the associate dean for biomedical affairs and research for the VCOM-Louisiana campus. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Haifa in Israel. Michalak served as a professor at the VCOM-Virginia campus, with a focus on comparative genomics, bioinformatics, and One Health, operating as head of the Integrative Genome Analysis Lab (IGAL) at the Center for One Health Research. His team has employed an integrative approach with a variety of molecular, computational, and modeling techniques, including NextGen sequencing, a high-throughput DNA sequencing technology, of entire genomes, epigenomes, and transcriptomes to establish a rigorous understanding of how complexity elaborates from genomes through gene regulatory networks, and how it evolves over generations in response to environmental stress and intragenomic challenges.

Michalak has worked at nine universities in four countries across three continents. He has published his research in one book, with a second currently in preparation. Additionally, Michalak has been credited as a contributor in multiple books, as well as approximately 70 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals, including “Cell,” “Science,” “Nature,” “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA” and “Proceedings of the Royal Society.” His research has been cited nearly 2000 times and popularized by various public media outlets.

Dixie Tooke-Rawlins, DO, FACOFP President VCOM

John Rocovich, Jr, JD, LLM Chairman VCOM

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2026 Research Recognition Day