Alan P. Kenny, MD, PhD
Title
Research Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated
Appointment
Research Instructor, Pediatrics - Affiliated, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Email
alan.kenny@cchmc.org
Phone
513-803-2224
Fax
513-636-7868
Bio
Alan P. Kenny, MD, PhD, focuses his research on elucidating the molecular mechanisms controlling the earliest stages of respiratory and digestive organ development. Available evidence suggests that early lung, liver, and pancreas lineages develop from a pool of foregut progenitor cells in the ventral endoderm. They are induced by FGF and BMP signals emanating from the cardiogenic mesenchyme during early somite stages of development through a mechanism that is highly conserved among vertebrates. Despite significant gains in our understanding of this process, fundamentally important questions remain unanswered. First, how are the common foregut organ progenitors specified? Second, how are FGF and BMP pathways spatiotemporally coordinated such that different organs are induced from the common foregut progenitor? A third and most intriguing question is - what are the endoderm genetic programs activated in response to induction from mesoderm that ultimately direct specific foregut organ development?
These questions remain unanswered mostly due to experimental limitations inherent in mouse embryos, which are small and difficult to dissect at such an early stage. Dr. Kenny uses the experimental advantages of the large, externally developing, abundant Xenopus embryos to address these critical, unresolved issues. Specifically, Dr. Kenny is testing his hypothesis that cardiogenic FGF and BMP signaling of different durations induce different organs. Dr. Kenny’s microarray experiment to identify the endodermal genes induced very early in response to mesodermal signaling. Surprisingly, several negative regulators of BMP signaling were induced early by mesoderm signaling. My preliminary work suggests the hypothesis that BMP inhibitory feedback is a critical component induced during early foregut organ progenitor development. This work should ultimately increase our understanding of normal and abnormal early fetal organ development, lending further insight into foregut malformations such as tracheoesophageal fistula and congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Additionally, this work aims to offer better means to direct human embryonic stem cells toward more foregut organ-specific cell fates for therapeutic purposes.
Credentials
PhD: Biology
MD: University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, 2002.
Residency: Pediatrics, Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 2002-2005
Fellowship: Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2005-2008
Certifications: In Pediatrics, 2007 American Board of Pediatrics; American Board of Pediatrics, Board Eligible in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, 2008.
Awards and Honors
- 2008- NIH Loan Repayment Program Awardee
- 2008- Procter Scholar, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
- 2008 Society for Pediatric Research Fellow’s Basic Science Research Award
Research
Lung progenitor development; stem cell differentiation; fetal malformations
Publications, Most Recent
Kenny, Alan P.; Crimmins, Nancy A.; Mackay, Debora J.G.; Bove, Kevin; Hopkin, Robert J.; Leonis, Mike A. (2009) Concomitant transient neonatal cholestasis and associated ductal plate malformation in a patient with transient neonatal diabetes mellitus: a case report. Pediatric Developmental Pathology.
Li, Yan; Rankin, Scott S.; Sinner, Debora; Kenny, Alan P.; Krieg, Paul; Zorn, Aaron M. (2008) Sfrp5 coordinates foregut specification and morphogenesis by antagonizing both canonical and non-canonical Wnt11 signaling. Genes and Development 22(21), 3050-3063. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York.
Kenny, A. (2007) Vitamin A for prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Preemie Press. Local news brief for Good Samaritan Hospital.
Angerer, L.M., Kenny, A.P., Newman, L.A. and Angerer, R.C. (2007). Mutual antagonism of SoxB1 and canonical Wnt signaling in sea urchin embryos. Signal Transduction 7(2), 174-178. Wiley Interscience, New York.
Presentations, Most Recent
April 18, 2009 at 112th Annual Meeting of the Japan Pediatric Society, Nara Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Nara, Japan. Foregut organ specification: timing of mesendodermal interactions and implication of an inhibited BMP pathway in Xenopus laevis.
May 3, 2008 at Pediatric Academic Societies, Society for Pediatric Research Joint Meeting, Honolulu, HI. Foregut organ specification: timing of mesendodermal interactions and implication of an inhibited BMP pathway in Xenopus laevis.
March 31, 2008 at Developmental Biology Division Meeting, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH. Foregut organ specification in Xenopus laevis: Implication of BMP pathway inhibition.
February 23, 2008 at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Board Meeting, Cincinnati, OH. . Foregut organ specification in Xenopus laevis: Implication of BMP pathway inhibition.
January 4, 2008 at Neonatal Grand Rounds. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Cincinnati, OH. On the Stump with Umbilical Cord Blood: Should Parents Bank It …Should We?
November 30, 2007 at Neonatal Grand Rounds. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Cincinnati, OH. Morbidity and Mortality Conference Neonatal Hyperglycemia Continued: Congenital Diabetes x2.
November 16, 2007 at 71st Perinatal and Developmental Medicine Symposium held in Marriot’s Marco Island Resort, Marco Island, Florida. Foregut organ specification in Xenopus laevis: Implication of BMP pathway inhibition and relative timing for lung, liver and pancreas.
June 29, 2007 at Neonatal Grand Rounds. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Cincinnati, OH. Morbidity and Mortality Conference; Congenital Cardiomyopathy: One of Many Roads to NIHF.
April 6, 2007 at Neonatal Grand Rounds. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Cincinnati, OH. Vitamin A for Prevention of BPD: Translational Research in Development.
Professional Organization Memberships
Special Interests
Neonatal Care; neonatal lung disease; neonatal malformations and anomalies
Other Programs, Services and Clinics of Work
- The University Hospital NBN, TCN, and NICU
- The Christ Hospital NBN and SCN
- Mercy Anderson Hospital SCN and NBN
- Saint Elizabeth Medical Center NBN and SCN
- High Risk Clinic, CCHMC
Faculty
- Ann L. Akeson, PhD
- Henry T. Akinbi, MD
- Cindy J. Bachurski, PhD
- Thomas Bartman, MD, PhD
- Tanya E. Cahill, MD
- Michael W. Crossman, MD, PhD
- Vrushank G. Davé, MS, PhD
- Edward F. Donovan, MD
- Horacio Falciglia, MD
- Stephan W. Glasser, PhD
- Beth E. Haberman, MD
- Eric Hall, PhD
- Noah H. Hillman, MD
- Steven B. Hoath, MD
- Machiko Ikegami, MD, PhD
- James M. Greenberg, MD
- Alan H. Jobe, MD, PhD
- Clinton H. Joiner, MD, PhD
- Tanya V. Kalin, MD, PhD
- Vladimir V. Kalinichenko, MD, PhD
- Suhas G. Kallapur, MD
- Beena D. Kamath, MD, MPH
- Heather C. Kaplan, MD, MSCE
- Alan P. Kenny, MD, PhD
- Paul S. Kingma, MD, PhD
- Madhavi Koneru, MD
- Thomas R. Korfhagen, MD, PhD
- Tim Le Cras, PhD
- Kristin R. Melton, MD
- Vivek Narendran, MD
- Amy T. Nathan, MD
- Anne-Karina T. Perl, MS, PhD
- Danna M. Premer, MD
- John H. Reuter, MD, PhD
- Ward R. Rice, MD, PhD
- Kurt R. Schibler, MD
- John M. Shannon, PhD
- Andrew Patrick South, MD, MPH
- Jean J. Steichen, MD
- Bruce C. Trapnell, MD, MS
- Laura Placke Ward, MD
- Timothy E. Weaver, MS, PhD
- Kathy E. Wedig, MD
- Susan E. Wert, PhD
- Scott L. Wexelblatt, MD
- Kathryn A. Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD
- Yan Xu, PhD
