Dr. Hattie M. Myles is the Assistant Dean for Education Enrichment and Student Affairs at the University of South Alabama. She received her B.A. from the University of Southern Mississippi, M.A. in Education from Louisiana State University, and Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS.

Dr. Myles held multiple positions at Louisiana State University between 1979 and 1989 as Assistant Coordinator of University Relations and Community Outreach, Director of Health Careers Opportunity Program, and Academic Counselor and Veterinary Health Career Development Officer. Before moving to Mobile, AL, Dr. Myles worked on several projects in the North Carolina area, while serving as Associate Director of the Health Careers Access Program for University of North Carolina. She was Grant Project Consultant for Project Reach to Teach in Durham, as well as a Grant Project Evaluator for the Health Careers Opportunity Summer Youth Program at Pembroke State University.

Dr. Narendra K. Singh is a professor at Auburn University. His current research interest is responses to environmental stress particularly changes in gene expression profile in response to heat and draught. He has also done work with edible vaccines and the development of plant derived edible vaccines against viral diseases. Dr. Singh is a major professor of graduate students with affiliations in China, Australia, Taiwan, Jordan, and throughout the United States.

Dr. Jacqueline Jones-Triche is an alumna of Alabama State University (ASU) class of 2007. While enrolled at ASU she received numerous honors, awards and participated in numerous scientific peer-reviewed journal articles. She was also a Minority Access to Research and Careers (MARC) and a Ronald E. McNair scholar. She won one of twelve    national Doctoral fellowships through the UNCF/MERCK Science Initiative in 2010.

Dr. Jones-Triche currently holds leadership positions and has professional affiliations with well-known committees and organizations such as Regional Director for Association of UNCF/MERCK Fellow, member of the Board of Directors for Internal Advisory Board for the Health Disparities Institute and member of the Biological Stain Commission. Dr. Jones-Triche is currently conducting research at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Sharon Smith Massingale currently serves as the State Laboratory Director for the Alabama Department of Public Health Bureau of Clinical Laboratories (BCL). Dr. Massingale earned a bachelor’s degree from Alabama A&M University in Huntsville and a master’s degree from Tuskegee University, serving for a time as part of the faculty. She earned her doctorate in microbiology from Auburn University.

Prior to earning her position as Laboratory Director and as part of her work at the BCL, she launched the state’s West Nile virus clinical testing program, set up the molecular laboratory and played a critical role preparing the lab for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Serving as Director for both the central laboratory in Montgomery and the regional laboratory in Mobile, Dr. Massingale provides leadership and oversight for a broad range of clinical services including the state’s Newborn Screening Program, STD testing, nucleic acid amplification testing for TB, 16S DNA sequencing, shellfish testing, analysis of Gulf Coast beach water, and spot surveillance of retail milk for sterility.