WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., May 3, 2016 — West Liberty University College of Sciences graduating senior Adam Kenney was selected for the University Fellowship at The Ohio State University (Columbus) College of Medicine recently. The award is worth $30,576 and funds four years of graduate school.
Kenney will graduate from WLU with a Bachelor of Science in Biology degree on May 7, 2016. In June he will begin biomedical sciences program at Ohio State. He has always been intrigued by biology.
“I always wanted to go into biology but started out as pre-pharmacy. I switched to biomedical sciences graduate school over the past few years,” he said. He interviewed for the graduate school fellowship in mid-January.
While at WLU, he completed three years of undergraduate research under the supervision of Dr. Joseph Horzempa.
“My research focused on the interaction of mosquitoes, flower nectar, and Francisella tularensis, a highly pathogenic bacterium that causes tularemia. My research team and I discovered that F. tularensis survives within flower nectar and that mosquitoes are able to ingest and transmit F. tularensis from one nectar source to another. We hypothesized that nectar acts as a natural reservoir of F. tularensis and, consequently, mosquitoes are more likely to encounter the bacterium in the wild. This research will further the understanding of natural tularemia infections and may be useful for predicting and preventing seasonal tularemia outbreaks associated with mosquitoes. My time as an undergraduate researcher made me passionate about science and sparked my interest in pursuing a Ph.D.,” he said.
Kenney, who is from Newport, Ohio, said that he chose WLU for his undergraduate degree because of the excellent scholarship opportunities here.
“The professors are helpful and offer individual attention and guidance,” he said.
Kenny also was selected as one of the two recipients of WLU Outstanding Biology Student, an award presented at the April 28 Spring Honors Convocation. Graduating Senior Rebecca Barnes of Wheeling is the other recipient of the biology award and she is accepted into the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University.
After finishing his doctoral degree at Ohio State, Kenney plans to pursue a research career with either private industry or with a government agency.
Both Kenney and Barnes are also Elbin Scholars and recently won the Student Research Competition, each receiving an additional $700 academic award.
Kenney is a former graduate of Frontier High School, New Matamoras, Ohio and Barnes is a former graduate of Wheeling Park High School.