Kristen W. Lynch PhD

Kristen W. Lynch has been appointed as chair of the department of biochemistry and biophysics. She has served eight years as a tenured professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the Perelman School of Medicine and holds a secondary appointment in the department of genetics. “Dr. Lynch has a broad vision of the future of biochemistry and biophysics at Penn,” said Jonathan A. Epstein, executive vice dean, and chief scientific officer of Penn Medicine. “Her experience, talent, and collaborative spirit will foster strong ties among investigators within the department, as well as across Penn Medicine and the University.”

While Dr. Lynch is considered an RNA biologist by specialty, her research expertise lies RNA’s intersection with immunology. Her laboratory focuses on understanding alternative gene splicing—which results in a single gene coding for multiple proteins—when it occurs in response to toxins and foreign substances such as bacteria, viruses, and cells of transplanted organs. Dr. Lynch and her team have identified more than 500 genes that undergo this process following T cell stimulation and their studies provide new insights into the ability of the immune system to adapt to environmental factors.

Dr. Lynch graduated from Harvard University with a BA in 1990 and a doctorate in 1996, after which she pursued postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco. She was an associate professor and the chair of the biology graduate program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center when she was recruited to join the Penn faculty as an associate professor in the department of biochemistry and biophysics in 2009.