Dr. Kathleen Higgins DDS, MS Oral Pathologist
Kathleen E. Higgins DDS, MS a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, Division of Oral Pathology. Prior to joining OU COD, she completed a Head and Neck Pathology Fellowship at the University of Chicago. She completed her Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology residency at New York Presbyterian Queens and currently is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology. Prior to residency, she graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry in Richmond, Virginia following completion of her Masters of Science in Forensic Science at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Her undergraduate education was completed at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Her current research interests include imaging of oral epithelial lesions using autofluorescence, genetic profiling of oral dysplastic lesions and squamous cell carcinoma with a focus on genetic drivers of malignant transformation, and the genetic profile of the columnar cell variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma. She has presented at local and national meetings on topics that include oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, oral pigmented lesions, and hematologic malignancies, among others.
Lorrie Hellcat Bamford, J.D. Lawyer, Life-Coach, Motivational Speaker
Lorrie Hellcat Bamford, and yes, Hellcat is her legal middle name, was born and raised 1 of 11 children in Dallas, Texas. Lorrie overcame her circumstances of poverty, adversity, and dysfunction – learning, over time, to never live as a victim of her circumstances. Hellcat is a professional motivational speaker, lawyer, certified life coach, and Podcaster. Lorrie’s mission is to love, learn, and be a passionate advocate for hope. Hellcat’s Hope Podcast has been downloaded over 7,000 times and has listeners all over the world. Her message of confidence and hope, one thought at a time, will both motivate and inspire you to live above and beyond whatever circumstances life may throw your way and using your own inner Hellcat to do great things.
Loren Stein, MSN, RNC-NIC
Loren Stein, MSN, RNC-NIC is a recently retired Clinical Assistant Professor at the Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center. She served as the Clinical Skills Professional Practice Laboratory Coordinator at the College of Nursing for over a decade. She is the first author of a clinical skills textbook entitled, Concept-based Clinical Nursing Skills.
Loren Stein has been involved in vaccine training for the past 13 years. She was the Project Director for the development of the Nursing Initiative Promoting Immunization Training (NIP-IT) website. This six-module training website developed as a result of a cooperative agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Fran and Earl Zeigler College of Nursing. Loren Stein served as the Oklahoma Nurses Association representative to the Oklahoma Immunization Advisory Board from 2009 -2017. She has presented on immunization training nationally for the National Immunization Conference in Atlanta and Washington DC as well as locally in Oklahoma City.
Loren Stein has served in a leadership position within the Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps (OKMRC) since its inception in 2003. She served as the Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps Nurses Unit Coordinator from 2003-2009 and again from 2015-2021. She served at the statewide OKMRC Education Coordinator from 2007-2017. She co-developed and co-presented the OKMRC Disaster Vaccination training in OKC and Tulsa.
Jeff Puckett
Jeff Puckett started his law enforcement career at the Norman Police Department in 1992. During his distinguished 21-year career with Norman PD, Jeff spent 13 years in the department’s Special Investigative Division (SID) working on hundreds of cases involving street to high-level narcotics traffickers.
From 2002 to 2007, Jeff was assigned to the Oklahoma City DEA Task Force where he worked in an undercover capacity on major drug investigations, seizing of millions of dollars, and hundreds of pounds of illegal narcotics.
In 2008, Jeff became the first diversion investigator at Norman PD and worked on all types of cases from doctor shoppers and script forgers to taking enforcement actions against pharmacies, pharmacists, and medical providers. Jeff also started a training program with the Norman Regional Hospital in which he trained doctors, nurses, and other staff members in drug diversion and opioid abuse.
Jeff also routinely gave community presentations to schools and various community groups about the dangers of drug use, the methods utilized by drug traffickers and drug users to conceal, sell, and ingest illegal narcotics. Jeff is certified by the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) as an instructor and has over 1500 hours of law enforcement training.
Jeff was hired as an investigator with the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry in 2018 and was promoted to Deputy Director of the agency in 2020.
Jeff was inducted into the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Hall of Fame in 2021 and is also a past recipient of the Norman PD Officer of the Year Award. Jeff is a member of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI), and the Association of Oklahoma Narcotics Enforcers (AONE). Jeff also serves on the Executive Board for AONE and was voted by his peers as the Region 1 Officer of the Year for AONE in 2009.
Jeff has been married to his lovely wife Lori for 25 years and they have one daughter, Abby, who is a senior at OSU.