Norma Sue Kenyon, Ph.D. is the Martin Kleiman Professor of Surgery, Microbiology and Immunology and Biomedical Engineering at the Diabetes Research Institute, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami. Utilizing clinically relevant transplant models, and as a co-investigator on multiple clinical trials, Dr. Kenyon and her team have focused on ways to transplant insulin producing islet cells without the need for life-long anti-rejection drugs, including the incorporation of stem cells into transplant protocols to enhance islet engraftment and survival. Her current research is focused on the immunomodulatory and graft promoting effects of mesenchymal stem cells. Kenyon has received research funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation and several industry collaborators. She has served as Chair for Immunology in the NIH funded Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet and the Clinical Islet Transplant consortiums and is a member of the National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Disease Council.
In addition to her academic pursuits, Dr. Kenyon has served as a scientific advisor to the Food and Drug Administration and as Senior Associate Dean for Translational Science at the Miller School of Medicine. She is currently Chief Innovation Officer and Director of the Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research at the Miller School of Medicine, as well as Vice Provost for Innovation for the University of Miami. Kenyon earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University, followed by post-doctoral positions at UCLA and the University of Miami. She left academics to work for Coulter Corporation early in her career but ultimately returned to pursue type 1 diabetes research.