From monsters to medicine: Graduate turns childhood fantasies into cancer-fighting reality

Growing up in a log cabin in the forests of upstate New York, Kendra Carmon, PhD ‘08, was captivated by black-and-white horror movies of mad scientists mixing chemicals and creating monsters in their laboratories.

“I thought it would be super cool to someday have a laboratory of my own where I could perform experiments.”

Now an associate professor at The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, her childhood dreams have become reality—albeit one focused on killing cancer cells instead of bringing gargoyles to life.

“It has been an exciting and rewarding journey to get here, and I am grateful to be able to do what I love,” says Carmon, a 2008 graduate of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

The first in her family to attend a four-year university, Carmon earned an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and a master’s degree in biochemistry at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. She developed a keen interest in biomedical research, particularly drug discovery, and applied for a PhD program at MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

“Once I visited the school for my interview, it was a done deal.”

“I loved to see how happy and motivated the students were and the vast potential that existed for scientific discoveries and collaborations throughout the Texas Medical Center.”

She was accepted into the school’s PhD program in cell and regulatory biology, now known as the Molecular and Translational Biology Program. During her education, she studied in the laboratory of David Loose, PhD, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology at McGovern Medical School. She remembers Loose—who passed away in 2024—as a kind, supportive mentor who made every day in the laboratory enjoyable.

“He always let me know how proud he was of me, and he truly shaped me into the person I am today,” Carmon says.

She gained valuable expertise in cell communication and drug discovery, largely focused on proteins crucial to cell growth and development, a key aspect of cancer research. The camaraderie between faculty and students in the PhD program helped her succeed as a student scientist, as did the support of scholarships and fellowships.

Carmon received the Dean’s Research Scholarship Award from McGovern Medical School, the American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research, the GSBS Faculty and Alumni Merit Fellowship, and a fellowship from the National Institutes of Health.

“These awards helped lift the financial burdens of moving halfway across the country from New York to Texas and allowed me to purchase items I needed for my research,” she says. “I felt, and continue to feel, so much gratitude for the financial support and recognition of the quality of my research.”

After earning her PhD, Carmon completed postdoctoral training at the Institute of Molecular Medicine. She made key discoveries about the LGR5 marker often found on cancer stem cells, which could serve as a target for new treatments. These breakthroughs led to her own independent research program, and she joined the faculty in 2022.

Today, her work focuses on developing drugs to find and destroy cancer cells with the LGR5 marker. She co-directs the Molecular and Translational Biology Program at MD Anderson UTHealth Houston Graduate School—helping lead the program where she once studied.

She makes a point to mentor and support students, just as faculty members did for her. She looks back on her time at the school—and the people there who influenced her—as a defining aspect of her journey to this point.

“UTHealth Houston is where I was trained to become a successful researcher,” she says. “Many remarkable individuals at the school have played a role in me becoming the woman, mentor, and scientist that I am today.