Title: PhD Student, Molecular Medicine
Employer: Wake Forest School of Medicine
Previous Role: Veterinary Anatomic Pathology Resident, University of Minnesota

Kendall started out on the pre-vet track in Animal Science, but wanted to complement the focus on farm animals with the wide range of wildlife and other organisms available in Integrative Biology. During her time here she completed a James Scholar research project and found a love for research. After graduating with her double major in IB and Animal Sciences in 2012, she started veterinary school at the University of Missouri. She added on a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences after working with one of her class professors, and this solidified her desire to integrate research into her career. In 2017 she graduated from both programs and began her current residency position at the University of Minnesota. Currently, she is working towards a PhD in Molecular Medicine and Translational Science at the Wake Forest School of Medicine with a focus on novel diagnostics for human bladder cancer.

Anatomic pathology is a branch of medicine focused on diagnostics. As such, she does not treat animals, but instead diagnoses diseases by performing autopsies, examining histologic sections of tissue, and ordering appropriate genetic/infectious disease testing. A fair number of autopsies that she does are forensic so this is a very similar career path to forensics.

Her interests lie in cancer biology, and animal models of human disease. She hopes to help develop new cancer treatments for humans using veterinary species as models of human neoplasia once she is done with school.

How did her degree help prepare her for these roles?

“Without my degrees at the University of Illinois I never would have been able to get accepted to veterinary school. IB did a nice job of supplying me with a well-rounded education. I can't even tell you the number of times information from ornithology, mammalogy, and ecology have helped me in my career!”

Kendall would be a great person to talk to if you are interested in cancer biology, forensics, animal biology, or veterinary medicine. Contact Christina Swanson at alumnimentor@sib.illinois.edu if you would like to connect with Kendall.