Rate My Professor Chris Kemp

The Kemp Laboratory of Functional Precision Medicine, led by Kemp, integrates high-throughput functional genomic screens, small molecule screens, and genomic analysis with patient tumor samples to identify next-generation targeted anticancer agents anchored to genetic biomarkers. The lab employs isogenic and patient-derived tumor models to discover and validate targets for challenging cancers including pancreatic, ovarian, breast, and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, while elucidating mechanisms of cancer cell death. As part of the Cancer Target Discovery and Development Network, Kemp's efforts bridge cancer genomics and precision oncology. His multidisciplinary team science has secured major National Cancer Institute funding, such as a five-year $5.4 million grant to uncover new cancer-therapy targets via genomic approaches, two awards totaling more than $7 million in 2018 to boost functional genomics, and a $4 million grant in 2013 for developing precision cancer treatments. These initiatives accelerate clinical translation, promising more effective and less toxic therapies.