Jeff Plunkett, PhD

Dean Plunkett has been with St. Thomas University for the past 23 years and has moved through the faculty ranks and now serves an administrative role as Dean with the university. Dr. Plunkett completed his undergraduate degree in Microbiology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and completed his Ph.D. in Neurobiology at Georgia State University. He also completed his post-doctoral training at the University of Miami (Miami Project to Cure Paralysis).

Dr. Plunkett remains active in instruction at the university and still maintains his research laboratory at St. Thomas. He and his students currently study the role of stem cells in spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury. The results of data generated in his laboratory at St. Thomas are presented each year at national and international scientific meetings. He has served as principle investigator (PI) on over 4 million dollars in federal grants and is currently principle investigator for a minority student support initiative through the United States Department of Education.