Research Experience

Participating in undergraduate research was a defining characteristic of my collegiate experience. Having no experience going into it my freshman year, I quickly discovered my passion for research and amended my future career plans, setting my sights on becoming a physician-scientist (MD-PhD).

View my Google Scholar Profile

The University of Edinburgh, The (Royal) Dick School of Veterinary Medicine, The Roslin Institute
Master's Student

October 2024 - Present

I am currently pursuing a Master's of Science by Research at the Roslin Institute under the direction of Dr. Jayne Hope and co-advisor Tom Burden. My thesis project will focus on characterizing the response of natural killer cells to the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis in bovine models. I am attending this university on the provision of a Global Scholars Grant from the Rotary Foundation as well as a Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship.

Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School, Zapol Research Group
SRTP Intern

June 2024 - July 2024

I interned under the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care and Pain Medicine with PI Dr. Maurizio Cereda and international research fellow Dr. Alice Nova. My project focused on investigating transthoracic lung ultrasound as a diagnostic imaging method for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in porcine and human models. The Massachusetts General Hospital Summer Research Training Program (SRTP) is sponsored by MGH's Center for Diversity and Inclusion.

2023+Discover+Day+Lattin+Lynch+Noble.jpg

LSU Lattin Neuroendocrinology and Behavior Lab
Undergraduate Researcher

October 2020 - May 2024

Under the supervision of my PI, Dr. Christine Lattin, and postdoc Dr. Tosha Kelly, I conducted an undergraduate honors thesis investigating cereballar cytokine expression during acute malaria infection. Other prongs of this project are currently looking at the development of possible biomarkers for nonlethal diagnosis of cerebral malaria in birds. Previously, I worked on a project studying avian malaria infections in the declining Louisiana wild turkey population as well as a neophobia study in birds.

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Netz Lab
Amgen Scholar

June 2022 - August 2022

Under the supervision of my PI, Dr. Netz Arroyo, and graduate student John Mack, I worked on a project aimed at developing, building, and testing a novel type of electrochemical aptamer-based (E-AB) sensors for the rapid and cheap sensing of blood vancomycin levels in a clinical setting to aid clinicians with the issue concerning pharmacokinetic variability and dosage. This work was the basis of my Goldwater and Astronaut Scholarship applications, which I both won in 2023.

LSU Neuropsychometrics Research Group
Undergraduate Research Assistant

June 2021 - July 2021

Under the supervision of graduate student Ross Divers, I worked on the Memory and Daily Functioning in Neuropsychology study, which investigated how people with early markers for neurodegeneration and cognitive decline remembered information. This entailed independently administering cognitive tests like the MMSE, HVLT, TOPF, and more with participants over Aoom and scoring them to assist with data collection for the graduate students.

Publications

Kelly, T.K., Lynch, K.I., Couvillion, K.E., Gallagher, J.N., Stansberry, K.R., Kimball, M.G., Lattin, C.R., 2021. A transient reduction in circulating corticosterone reduces object neophobia in male house sparrows. Hormones and Behavior, 137, 105094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.105094

Lynch, K.I. (2024). Operation brainstorm: cerebellar cytokine expression in house sparrows during acute

malaria infection [Undegraduate Honors Thesis, Louisiana State University]. LSU Scholarly Repository.

Mack, J., Murray, R., Lynch, K., & Arroyo-Currás, N, 2024. 3D-Printed electrochemical cells for multi-point aptamer-based drug measurements. Sensors and Diagnostics, 3 (9), 1533-1541. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SD00192C

Kelly, T.R., Lynch, K.I., Cannon, A.L. et al. Behavioural infection tolerance of malaria is negatively correlated with pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in the brain of an invasive songbird. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 79, 49 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-025-03589-1

Lynch, K.I., Kelly, T.R., Aker, B., Erram, D., Lattin, C.R. & Foil, L. Leucocytozoon prevalence differs by sex in Louisiana wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) (Accepted)

** 1 additional manuscript in progress

Contributed Presentations

My name bolded, presenting author's name italicized

Kenedi I. Lynch, Lane D. Foil, Christine R. Lattin, Tosha Kelly. “Leucocytozoon Infection in Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo): A Cause for Population Decline in Louisiana?”. Louisiana State University Discover Day Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium. April 16, 2021. Louisiana State University. Virtual. [Poster]
Kenedi I. Lynch, Lane D. Foil, Christine R. Lattin, Tosha Kelly. “Leucocytozoon Infection in Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo): A Cause for Population Decline in Louisiana?” Stamps Scholar Symposium. April 18, 2021. University of Illinois. Virtual. [Poster]
Kenedi I. Lynch, Reetu Shrestha, Morgan Mattinson. “Growth and survival of little bluestem is unhindered by soil from monodominant gallberry patches”. Louisiana State University CURE Poster Presentation Session. April, 2021. Louisiana State University. Virtual. [Poster]
Kenedi I. Lynch, Lane D. Foil, Christine R. Lattin, Tosha Kelly. “Avian Malaria Infection in Wild Turkeys: A Cause for Population Decline in Louisiana?” Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) Annual Meeting. January 3-7, 2022. Phoenix, AZ. (Accepted, but unable to attend due to COVID-19 reasons). [Oral]
Kenedi I. Lynch, Lane D. Foil, Christine R. Lattin, Tosha Kelly. “Avian Malaria Infection in Wild Turkeys: A Cause for Population Decline in Louisiana?” Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Virtual Annual Meeting (SICB+). January 13- March 31, 2022. Virtual. [Oral]
Kenedi I. Lynch, Lane D. Foil, Christine R. Lattin, Tosha Kelly. “Avian Malaria Infection in Wild Turkeys: A Cause for Population Decline in Louisiana?” National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). April 6, 2022. Virtual.
Kelly, T.R., K.I. Lynch, K.E. Couvillion, J.N. Gallagher, K.R. Stansberry, M.G. Kimball & C.R. Lattin. “A transient reduction in corticosterone reduces object neophobia in male house sparrows” Life Science Research Foundation Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, April 2022. [Poster]
K.I. Lynch, J. Mack, N. Arroyo-Currás. ”Point-of-Care Measurement of Blood Vancomycin Levels Using Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensors” Leadership Alliance National Symposium, Hartford, Connecticut, USA, July 27, 2022. Virtual. [Oral]
K.I. Lynch, J. Mack, N. Arroyo-Currás. ”Point-of-Care Measurement of Blood Vancomycin Levels Using Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensors” Johns Hopkins University Summer Research Symposium, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, July 28, 2022. [Poster]
K.I. Lynch, J. Mack, N. Arroyo-Currás. ”Point-of-Care Measurement of Blood Vancomycin Levels Using Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensors” 3rd Annual National Pre-Health Community Conference, August 11, 2022. Virtual. [Poster]
K.I. Lynch, J. Mack, N. Arroyo-Currás. ”Point-of-Care Measurement of Blood Vancomycin Levels Using Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensors” Stamps Convention, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, March 31, 2023. [Poster]
K.I. Lynch, T.R. Kelly, C.R. Lattin. ”Testing the Angiopoietin-1/Angiopoietin-2 Ratio as a Biomarker of Cerebral Malaria in Wild Birds” Louisiana State University Discover Day Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium. Baton Rouge, LA, Louisiana State University, April 23, 2023. [Poster]
K.I. Lynch, T.R. Kelly, C.R. Lattin. ”Testing Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Expression and the Angiopoietin-1/ Angiopoietin-2 Ratio as Biomarkera of Cerebral Malaria in Wild Birds” Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Innovators’ Week Technical Conference. Orlando, FL, August 18, 2023. [Oral]
K.I. Lynch, T.R. Kelly, C.R. Lattin. ”Operation brainstorm: developing molecular biomarkers to detect the pathology of cerebral malaria in wild birds” Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) Annual Meeting. January 2-7, 2024. Seattle, WA. [Poster] – 2nd place in Best Student Presentation Competition, DEDE division

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

Kenedi I. Lynch, Lane D. Foil, Christine R. Lattin, Tosha Kelly. “Avian Malaria Infection in Wild Turkeys: A Cause for Population Decline in Louisiana?” LSU College of Science Mixer. November 12, 2021. LSU Medical Education and Innovation Center. [Poster]
Kenedi I. Lynch, Lane D. Foil, Christine R. Lattin, Tosha Kelly. “Avian Malaria Infection in Wild Turkeys: A Cause for Population Decline in Louisiana?” LSU Breakfast Poster Session with the President. March 28, 2022. LSU Ogden Honors College French House. [Poster]
Kenedi I. Lynch, John Mack, Netz Arroyo-Currás. Point-of-Care Measurement of Blood Vancomycin Levels Using Electrochemical Aptamer-Based Sensors” LSU College of Science Mixer: Science and Spirits. October 21, 2022. The Estuary Water Campus. [Poster]