Meet Healthcare & Science Faculty

Paul Allenza

Adjunct Associate Professor, The Graduate School

Paul Allenza is a specialist and former director for the biotechnology research and education program at University of Maryland, College Park. The program is part of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute and assists researchers and growing companies as they scale up bioprocesses, evaluate new products, and train employees. Before joining the faculty at UMUC in 2007, Allenza held various management positions in research and development at Honeywell International and FMC Corporation. He earned a BS in microbiology from Cornell University and a PhD from University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Denise N. Baken

Associate Professor of Biotechnology, The Graduate School

Denise Baken is a biodefense national security consultant and president of Shield Analysis Technology. Her research focuses on biological agent threat data and cybersecurity. Baken is the coauthor of "Al Qaeda: The Transformation of Terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa" and of two chapters in "Security Issues in the Greater Middle East." Baken holds a PhD in biodefense from George Mason University.

Shaojian (James) Gao

Professor of Biotechnology, The Graduate School

Shaojian (James) Gao is a senior research fellow in bioinformatics at the National Cancer Institute. His current research focuses on cancer genomics in developing algorithms and pipelines to analyze next-generation DNA sequencing data. Gao earned a PhD from the University of Kentucky.

Joshua Gray

Professor of Biotechnology, The Graduate School

Joshua Gray is an associate professor of chemistry at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, where he teaches courses in toxicology, biochemistry, microbiology, and the science of terrorism. He teaches courses in UMUC's biosecurity and biodefense program that are focused on agents of bioterrorism and on drugs and vaccines being developed to combat them. His research focuses on two distinct topic areas: vesicants, such as mustard gas, and diabetes. Gray earned a PhD in toxicology from the Pennsylvania State University in 2008.

Katherine Im

Program Chair, Sociology, Behavioral Sciences, and Gerontology
Collegiate Associate Professor

240-684-2850
katherine.humber@umuc.edu

Katherine Im has been with UMUC's Undergraduate School since 2005. Her academic interests are in the interdisciplinary study of issues related to aging, gender, social inequity, and health.

Prior to joining UMUC, she worked at the University of Maryland School of Medicine as part of a research team investigating neuropsychological correlates in schizophrenia. She has over 20 years of experience in the field of mental health both as a clinician and as a research associate.

Im serves as the faculty advisor for Pi Gamma Mu, the international honor society for the social sciences, as well Sigma Phi Omega, the national professional and honor society for gerontology. She is also on the board of the Maryland Consortium for Adjunct Professional Development (MCAPD), a group dedicated to providing quality professional development opportunities for local adjunct faculty.

She is currently a doctoral candidate in gerontology at UMBC and is concurrently pursuing a master's degree in applied sociology. She earned a master's in clinical/community psychology from University of Maryland College Park and a bachelor's degree in psychobiology and English from Wellesley College.

Rana Khan

Vice Dean, Information and Technology Systems, The Graduate School
Program Chair, Biotechnology, Biosecurity and Biodefense Specialization

240-684-2400
rana.khan@umuc.edu

Rana Khan is UMUC's vice dean of the information and technology systems program as well as a program chair in the graduate biotechnology program. She has extensive research experience in molecular biology, working in both academia and the government. Her research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed science journals. Khan earned a PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Donald Zimmerman

Professor of Health Care Administration

504-280-6966
don.zimmerman@umuc.edu

Donald L. Zimmerman is a professor in the Graduate Health Care Administration program at UMUC. Prior to joining UMUC, Donald Zimmerman spent 15 years as a faculty member and program director at Fairleigh Dickinson University, the University of the Sciences, and Towson University. Before turning to full-time academic work, he was actively engaged in national and state health policy developments for 18 years as a senior researcher at Research Triangle Institute International, lead policy analyst at The George Washington University’s National Health Policy Forum, executive director (rank of deputy secretary) of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, and as a consultant to the U.S. Congress; international, federal, and state agencies; national associations; and publicly-traded healthcare organizations. 

Zimmerman earned his doctorate and master’s degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook University and his bachelor’s degree (with distinction) at the University of Washington—all in sociology. He currently serves as a member of the International Commission for Dalit Rights, a global human rights NGO. In addition, he is a member of the Society for International Development and the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA), an active participant in several national committees focused on program accreditation, and the faculty advisor for UMUC’s chapter of Upsilon Phi Delta, the AUPHA honor society. 

Zimmerman is an avid cyclist and thoroughly enjoys his family and friends, including a new grandson.