Consultant, Kevin Kennedy Associates Inc.
Providing expertise in bioanalytical chemistry, biotechnology research and development, mass spectrometry, and related expertise to a wide variety of clients.
Assistant Research Professor, The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Organized, designed, and coordinated all aspects of complex multi-investigator research project in high throughput (HT) screening of peptide libraries, chemically synthesizing bivalent ligands, and developing the analytical methodology to screen and characterize lead compounds. Research led to 1 patent awarded and 2 research grants funded. Advised and contributed to operations that led to the expansion of research center from 8 to 70 people in 3 years. Responsible for purchase, installation, and operation of over $2M of analytical instrumentation including mass spectrometers, SPR systems, and HPLC systems. Established and developed process that produced 5,000 peptide microarrays in 2 years. Oversaw purchase, installation, and operation of Biacore A-100 SPR system, one of the first systems installed in an American university. Consulted small biotechnology start-up in the modification and improvement of a portable SPR device. Developed protocols and data analysis methods that enabled the HT screening of 10,000 peptides against 4 proteins by the A-100, which is the largest library screened with this instrument to date. Participated in collaboration with Corning Life Sciences in applications development for the Corning EPIC high throughput label-free detection system. Oversaw purchase, installation and operation of Agilent HPLC-Chip and XCT Ultra Ion Trap, one of the first HPLC-Chip systems installed in an American university. Developed mass spectrometry methods and protocols for antigen discovery in cancer vaccine research program. Trained and mentored high school, undergraduate, graduate students, and post-doctoral research fellows.
Assistant Research Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
Managed mass spectrometry facility in Center for Biomedical Invention, which included an Applied Biosystems MALDI-TOF and an MDS Sciex QStar XL. Conducted research in the identification of unknown proteins cross-linked to a target protein. Organized and coordinated move of research operations to The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University.
Post-Doctoral Fellow, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Cincinnati, OH
Developed LC-TOF-MS methods for the detection of known and unknown algal toxins listed on the Candidate Contaminant List. Developed and coordinated a collaboration between EPA and Thermo Finnigan to apply high resolution, high mass accuracy mass spectrometry using the LTQ-FT for water analysis, assisting in development of new market for the product. Published review article on the use of high mass accuracy MS instrumentation in water analysis. Discovered new algal toxins from cyanobacteria and published findings in Analytical Chemistry.
Technical Support Specialist, Waters Corporation, Beverly, MA
Trained in operation, maintenance and service of Waters LC-MS systems, and Micromass TOF mass spectrometers, including component-level electronics and ion optics repairs. Responsible for customer support involving troubleshooting instrument and application problems as well as evaluating and directing the appropriate service response to minimize customer disruption. Led customer liaison on GCT, GC-MS system, identifying customer hardware, software, or application issues and coordinating service and support between US and UK service organizations to quickly solve customer problems. Participated in customer escalations to resolve escalated service problems that could result in loss of service contracts or new instrument sales.
Research Assistant, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Designed and built vacuum system to house a new SIMS instrument equipped with a gold liquid metal ion source. Designed and built primary ion sources that used polyatomic primary ions including: SF5+, C60+, and cesium iodide clusters. Used polyatomic primary ions to explore the fundamentals of the ion-solid collision process on polymer and self-assembled monolayer surfaces. Participated in a collaborative project with the Physics Department at the California Institute of Technology in a study of ion backscattering. Participated in a collaborative research project that used SIMS to examine the spatial distribution of lipids within a lipid bilayer.
