Melissa Kemp Promoted to Professor

Kemp has pioneered the use of computational systems biology models to understand and predict cellular behaviors in development, health, and disease, and provide the scientific community with a roadmap for new diagnostic and treatment pathways for a wide range of diseases. Her models have forced the field of molecular biology to develop new methods for measuring short-lived molecules and protein modifications, which she proposes are the unique “fingerprints” of cell communication, post-genetic variability, and cell stress responses that are responsible for biological variability.

Kemp’s models are the key to unlock the basis for (and opportunities of) personalized medicine and patient-specific therapies. Importantly, subsequent experiments by colleagues in the field have validated her paradigm-shifting theories. Her innovative scholarship has been recognized by many awards: NIH New Innovator, the CSF2 Prize for Innovative Measurement Methods, and the Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar award.