Dr. Kenney earned an S.B. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after studying the chemotherapeutic natural product bleomycin in the laboratory of Prof. JoAnne Stubbe. As a graduate student, Dr. Kenney joined the laboratory of Prof. Amy Rosenzweig at Northwestern University, investigating the production and biological roles of copper-binding natural products known as methanobactins, which are produced by methane-oxidizing microbes. Support for this research came from several sources, including an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship and a Northwestern University Presidential Fellowship. Prior to joining Pitt, Dr. Kenney was a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Prof. Emily Balskus in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. Dr. Kenney’s postdoctoral work in the Balskus group focused on new enzyme families that form nitrogen-nitrogen bonds in diverse natural products; as a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Kenney was a Merck Fellow of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.

When not puzzling over poorly-understood enzymes, Dr. Kenney can sporadically be found at experimental and noise rock concerts, playing the fiddle, painting, or sitting down to relax with a good book and a local beer.