Linda J KenneyManagement2020-02-03T15:31:05+08:00
Linda J Kenney

Seeking Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Biomaterials and Mechanobiology) in the group of Asst. Prof. Jennifer Young at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS

The Mechanobiology Institute, NUS, seeks to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Biomaterials and Mechanobiology) in the group of Asst. Prof. Jennifer Young.

By Wen Ying Lois Faith|Mar 19th, 2026|Categories: Job Archives|Comments Off on Seeking Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Biomaterials and Mechanobiology) in the group of Asst. Prof. Jennifer Young at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS

Seeking Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Spatial Omics) in the group of Asst. Prof. Jennifer Young at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS

The Mechanobiology Institute, NUS, seeks to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Spatial Omics) in the group of Asst. Prof. Jennifer Young.

By Wen Ying Lois Faith|Mar 19th, 2026|Categories: Jobs|Comments Off on Seeking Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Spatial Omics) in the group of Asst. Prof. Jennifer Young at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS

Linda J Kenney

Alumni

Research Areas

Signal transduction in bacteria; Bacterial Pathogenesis; Mechanotransduction and osmotic signaling in E. coli; Mechanisms of anti-silencing of virulence genes in Salmonella

Research Interests

Our laboratory is interested in signal transduction and the regulation of gene expression in prokaryotes. In particular, we are studying the two-component regulatory system EnvZ/OmpR that regulates the expression of outer membrane proteins as well as many other genes. Our present work focuses on how OmpR activates genes required for systemic infection (located on Salmonella pathogenicity island 2) in Salmonella enterica.

The Kenney Lab’s research was recently featured in an article exploring the bacterial molecular switch between virulence or dormancy, Salmonella Lifestyle Choices. Members of her lab have discovered that the bacterial protein SsrB is the molecular switch for determining whether Salmonella infections become acute and virulent, or remain in a dormant carrier state.

The study is published in eLife (Desai et al., The horizontally-acquired response regulator SsrB drives a Salmonella lifestyle switch by relieving biofilm silencing, February 2, 2016, eLife 2016; 5: e10747, doi: 10.7554/eLife.10747). Read full article.

Biography

Dr Kenney is a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Her laboratory studies two-component systems in bacteria that control gene expression at a single cell and nanometer level.

Professor Linda J Kenney and Professor Michael Sheetz interviewed by the Washington Post at the April 2017 March for Science.

Education

PhD University of Pennsylvania

Recent Publications

  1. Fernandez M, Yamanaka Y, Zangoui P, White MA, and Kenney LJ. The sulfur assimilation pathway mitigates redox stress from acidic pH in Salmonella Typhi H58. mBio 2025;:e0046725. [PMID: 40422406]
  2. Shetty D, and Kenney LJ. A pH-sensitive switch activates virulence in Salmonella. Elife 2023; 12. [PMID: 37706506]
  3. Oh D, Liu X, Sheetz MP, and Kenney LJ. Small, Dynamic Clusters of Tir-Intimin Seed Actin Polymerization. Small 2023;:e2302580. [PMID: 37649226]
  4. Mon KKZ, Si Z, Chan-Park MB, and Kenney LJ. Polyimidazolium Protects against an Invasive Clinical Isolate of Salmonella Typhimurium. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2022;:e0059722. [PMID: 36094258]
  5. Jacob H, Geng H, Shetty D, Halow N, Kenney LJ, and Nakano MM. Distinct Interaction Mechanism of RNAP and ResD and Distal Subsites for Transcription Activation of Nitrite Reductase in Bacillus subtilisψ. J Bacteriol 2021;:JB0043221. [PMID: 34898263]
  6. Singh MK, Zangoui P, Yamanaka Y, and Kenney LJ. Genetic code expansion enables visualization of Salmonella type three secretion system components and secreted effectors. Elife 2021; 10. [PMID: 34061032]
  7. Kenney LJ, and Anand GS. EnvZ/OmpR Two-Component Signaling: An Archetype System That Can Function Noncanonically. EcoSal Plus 2020; 9(1). [PMID: 32003321]
  8. Desai SK, and Kenney LJ. Switching Lifestyles Is an in vivo Adaptive Strategy of Bacterial Pathogens. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2019; 9:421. [PMID: 31921700]
  9. Desai SK, Padmanabhan A, Harshe S, Zaidel-Bar R, and Kenney LJ. Salmonella biofilms program innate immunity for persistence in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2019;. [PMID: 31160462]
  10. Ottemann KM, and Kenney LJ. Editorial overview: Host-pathogen interactions: bacteria. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 2019; 47:iii-v. [PMID: 31138403]

Lab Members

Miguel SOON Jun Yi

Aug 1st, 2025|Comments Off on Miguel SOON Jun Yi

PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Low Group

LYU Min

Aug 1st, 2025|Comments Off on LYU Min

PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Lim Group

HOANG Mai Thanh Truc

Aug 1st, 2025|Comments Off on HOANG Mai Thanh Truc

PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Yu Group

Hannah Abilaguyo YUSON

Aug 1st, 2025|Comments Off on Hannah Abilaguyo YUSON

PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Holle Group

Diya NARANG

Aug 1st, 2025|Comments Off on Diya NARANG

PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Michelot Group

QUAN Cheng

Aug 1st, 2025|Comments Off on QUAN Cheng

PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Li Group

CHEAM Mei Shan

Aug 1st, 2025|Comments Off on CHEAM Mei Shan

PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Toyama Group

Congratulations to Wee Juin Shin for being selected to present his work at the Amgen Scholars Asia Symposium!

Jul 29th, 2025|Comments Off on Congratulations to Wee Juin Shin for being selected to present his work at the Amgen Scholars Asia Symposium!

Our Amgen scholar, Wee Juin Shin, has been selected to present his work on ‘the Influence of substrate curvature on theca cell nematic flow’, at the Amgen Scholar Asia Symposium in Kyoto!

Geetika Chouhan

Jul 29th, 2025|Comments Off on Geetika Chouhan

Research Fellow, Dye Group

About the National University of Singapore

About NUSA leading global university centred in Asia, NUS is Singapore's flagship university, offering a global approach to education and research with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise.

About the Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore

About MBIOne of four Research Centres of Excellence at NUS, MBI is working to identify, measure and describe how the forces for motility and morphogenesis are expressed at the molecular, cellular and tissue level.
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