Kelly Monk '01, Ph.D.

Biochemistry

     Kelly currently heads a lab and is an assistant professor at Washington University School of Medicine. “Majoring in biochemistry at Elmira prepared me to work for my Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati in Cell Biology and Neurobiology,” Kelly says. “Each stage along this academic trajectory prepared me for my current position. EC gave me the scientific and analytical foundation necessary for the next stages. EC also gave me great depth in the form of a liberal arts education, which has helped me think about and attack scientific problems in many different ways.”
     As a research scientist, Kelly works in Developmental Biology, Neuroscience, and Genetics. She studies the molecular mechanisms that govern nervous system development. “We are interested in the myelin sheath,” Kelly explains, “which is a specialized cellular structure that surrounds neurons and is essential for the nervous system to function properly. We study how myelin forms during development, how it is maintained in adulthood, and how we can enhance its regeneration in diseases like multiple sclerosis.” In her studies, Kelly uses zebrafish as a rapid discovery platform to find new genes and small molecules that affect the nervous system, and then extends her findings to mammalian systems. “One day,” Kelly hopes, “our discoveries will be translated into new therapies to stimulate repair in the damaged nervous system.”
     You can read more about Kelly’s research here: http://monklab.wustl.edu