Michael Kennedy

Michael A. Kennedy is an Eminent Scholar and Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Miami University, leading the Kennedy Research Group and directing the High Field Magnetic Resonance Laboratory. His research focuses on structural biology, DNA repair mechanisms, and NMR-based metabolic profiling for early cancer detection. Dr. Kennedy holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of South Carolina (1989) and completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Diego (1989–1990) and the University of Washington (1990–1993).

Research Interests:

• Structural biology and genomics
• NMR spectroscopy applications in disease biomarker discovery
• X-ray crystallography for protein structure analysis
• Pancreatic cancer metabolism and early diagnostic strategies

Recent Research Highlights: Recent work includes identifying early-stage pancreatic cancer biomarkers via NMR-based urine metabolic profiling (2025), elucidating rotavirus evolution mechanisms (2021), and developing the MMPCA online resource for pancreatic cancer research (2017).

Awards & Patents:

• U.S. Patent US10,813,957 B2 (2020): Engineered oncolytic viruses targeting oncogenic transcription factors
• U.S. Patent US9,233,119 B2 (2016): HMGA-targeted aptamers for cancer therapy

Advising & Collaborations: Advised over 8 PhD and M.S. students in pancreatic cancer, metabolic profiling, and viral biology. Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on oncology, diabetes, and structural biology projects. The Kennedy Group actively maintains the MMPCA database and employs advanced NMR and X-ray crystallography techniques.

Labs/Teams: Directs the Kennedy Research Group and High Field Magnetic Resonance Laboratory, with ongoing projects in cancer biomarker discovery and structural virology.