Ronald C. Kennedy
BornDecember 3, 1954
Farmington, Connecticut
DiedJune 29, 2011 (aged 56)
Lubbock[1]
Alma materRutgers College
Scientific career
FieldsVirology
InstitutionsTexas Tech University
ThesisChicken idiotypic specificities : characterization and expression (1981)

Ronald C. Kennedy (December 3, 1954 – June 29, 2011)[2] was a virus immunologist at Texas Tech University. Prior to his appointment there he was affiliated with Baylor University, where he had previously done postdoctoral studies. Furthermore, when he switched affiliations to Texas Tech, he was also an adjunct, associate and full professor in the Departments of Microbiology and Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. After his tenure in San Antonio, he switched affiliations to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center's department of microbiology and immunology. In the 1980s he was affiliated with the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, during which time he published some research pertaining to SV40 and intracellular protein transport.[3] More recently, Kennedy has published some research regarding DNA vaccination, mostly in the journal Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy.

Education

Kennedy received his MS and PhD from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu after attending graduate school there, and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers College.[4]

Research

HIV/AIDS vaccine

Kennedy was active in the search for an HIV vaccine for almost as long as the disease has existed. Kennedy has stated, "I first heard about this rare form of cancer that caused an immunodeficiency in 1982 while I was working at Baylor College of Medicine." At the time, it was not yet known that HIV was the cause of this immunodeficiency. Kennedy tells a story that he was encouraged by his mentor to hop on a plane to Washington, D.C. in 1983, whereupon he took a cab to Bethesda, Maryland and entered Robert Gallo's lab.[5]

Other research

Some of Kennedy's other research focused on the immune response to viral hepatitis. Kennedy has also helped to develop hepatitis B vaccines for chimpanzees and proposed their use in humans in a 1986 study.[6][7] His lab also conducted research into immunologic mechanisms of tumor immunity associated with SV40.[8]

Autism omnibus trial

Dr. Kennedy testified on behalf of the plaintiffs in the autism omnibus trial. His testimony centered on the two different components of the immune system: the innate immune system and the adaptive immune system. Kennedy also testified about how the measles virus affects certain components of the immune system, namely dendritic cells and T lymphocytes.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Alumni" (PDF). Pulse Magazine. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Summer 2011. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Ronald Kennedy". Resthaven Funeral Home & Resthaven Memorial Park. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  3. ↑ Lanford, R. E.; Kanda, P.; Kennedy, R. C. (1986). "Induction of nuclear transport with a synthetic peptide homologous to the SV40 T antigen transport signal". Cell. 46 (4): 575–582. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(86)90883-4. PMID 3015419. S2CID 26491905.
  4. ↑ "Ronald C. Kennedy". Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Archived from the original on May 31, 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Pulse Magazine Winter 02 Issue". Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Winter 2008. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  6. ↑ Kennedy, R.; Eichberg, J.; Lanford, R.; Dreesman, G. (1986). "Anti-idiotypic antibody vaccine for type B viral hepatitis in chimpanzees". Science. 232 (4747): 220–223. Bibcode:1986Sci...232..220K. doi:10.1126/science.3952505. PMID 3952505.
  7. ↑ Pollack, Andrew (19 June 1986). "Technology; New Approach On Diseases". New York Times. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "Ronald C. Kennedy". Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. 2001. Archived from the original on 19 June 2002. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  9. ↑ Vergara, Alfonso I. (2009). Birthing and Medicine in Crisis. iUniverse. pp. 346–350. ISBN 9781440194450.
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