Richard B. Kennedy

Dr. Kennedy earned his B.S. degree in Microbiology from Brigham Young University and his Ph.D. in Immunology from Mayo Clinic with postdoctoral training in immunogenetics and vaccinology. 

Dr. Kennedy is a Professor of Medicine and the Co-Director of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group.  He has over 150 peer-reviewed publications in journals including: Lancet Infectious Diseases, the Journal of Infectious Diseases, and Frontiers in Immunology. He is the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Vaccine: X and an Associate Editor at Vaccine.  He is a member of the American Association of Immunologists and the American Society for Microbiology.  He has served as an ad hoc reviewer on dozens of NIH study sections and has participated in numerous international review panels (e.g., Wellcome Trust, Research Councils UK, Science Foundation of Ireland, European Research Council).Dr. Kennedy has 4 R01 grants from NIH funding his work on viral vaccine immunology and is a site PI for one of three NIAID Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers creating universal influenza vaccines.  Dr. Kennedy’s research emphasis is on understanding the factors driving the tremendous diversity in human immune responses to vaccines against viral pathogens including: influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, SARS-CoV-2, smallpox, varicella, and zika.  His group focuses on the role of host genetic variation, sex, age and immunosenescence, nutrition, and other factors on the development and maintenance of immunity following vaccination.  The laboratory employs systems biology and vaccinomics approaches to better understand the complex interactions that occur during the development of vaccine response with the goal of predicting and controlling vaccine-induced immune responses. Dr. Kennedy also investigates the use of peptide-based vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, vaccinia, Mpox, influenza, and zika viruses.