S. Kendall Smith
2013 Graduate
Professional Background
Research Focus: Cell cycle regulation in female meiotic systems
Assistant Program Director for Residency Affairs, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. Dec 2019 - Present
Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, MO. 2018 - Present
Fellowship, Critical Care Medicine, Duke University 2018
Residency, Anesthesiology, Duke University 2017
Internship, Anesthesiology, Duke University 2013 - 2016
I joined the MD-PhD Program during my second year of basic sciences in the MD program. In the fall of 2007, I entered Dr. Scott Hawley's laboratory at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research to begin my Ph.D. research exploring the mechanisms by which a meiotic cell can arrest for long periods of time (decades in human females). In particular, my research includes the Drosophila Matrimony (Mtrm) protein and its interaction with Polo kinase (Polo) during the later stages of G2 arrest in female meiosis.
I am from Fayetteville, Arkansas, but received my undergraduate degree in 2004 in Biology from the University of Kansas. At KU, I worked in Dr. "Chip" Taylor's lab studying glue proteins in the egg adhesive of the Monarch butterfly. After my first year of medical school, I did research in Dr. Joe Tash's lab in reproductive physiology exploring the mechanism of action of a potential non-hormonal male contraceptive agent, Gamendazole. I also had the opportunity to work for Drs. Jonathan and Sara Li in conjunction with Dr. Ossama Tawfik on the use of Aurora kinases as a potential biomarker for invasive ductal breast carcinoma and Dr. Jay Vivian in weekly discussions on stem cell biology.
Indeed, my research interests tend to revolve around fundamental molecular events in meiosis and mitosis and the pathology associated with those events including cancer, infertility, and chromosome nondisjunction.
Mentor: Scott Hawley, Ph.D., Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Stowers Medical Research Institute, KUMC MD-PhD Program.