Endowed Professor Rodney Tweten is a distinguished researcher at the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center, where he holds the OU Presidential and George Lynn Cross Research Professorships. His research focuses on the mechanisms of pore formation by cholesterol-dependent cytolysins, a family of bacterial toxins, and has recently led to the development of a promising pneumonia vaccine candidate. Professor Tweten has received numerous awards for his work, including the NIH Merit Award.