Eileen Kennedy, Associate Professor and Dr. Samuel C. Benedict Professor, has been appointed Interim Assistant Head, Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, retroactively effective October 1. In her new role, Dr. Kennedy will coordinate PBS’s efforts in Faculty Development, Mentoring, Diversity and Inclusion, and Interdisciplinary Research.

Following postdoctoral studies in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, Dr. Kennedy joined the College of Pharmacy in 2010. Her current research focuses on allosteric disruption of kinases using novel stabilized peptide inhibitors for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases spanning from cancer to Parkinson’s disease to tropical diseases, including malaria.

During Dr. Kennedy’s tenure at the College of Pharmacy, she developed the first PBS Faculty Mentoring Committee, serving as Chair since its inception. As a teacher, Dr. Kennedy has been a course coordinator for numerous semesters and has mentored several undergraduate, graduate, and PharmD students throughout the course of her service at the college. She has published 44 peer reviewed articles in such highly regarded journals as ACS Chemical Biology, ACS Infectious Diseases, EBMO Journal, Nature Methods, and Cancer Research. These publications are in addition to seven patents and patent applications. In addition, Dr. Kennedy has received more than $3.5 million in extramural funding, including a current R01 from the NIH in which she is the Pl; two Michael J. Fox Idea Awards in which she is the lead PI, a NIH P01 grant in which she is a Co-I, and a Department of Defense Cancer Research New Idea Award.

Dr. Kennedy is a proven leader, teacher, scholar, and researcher who will serve the College well. Congratulations on this well-deserved opportunity.