Dr. Kendra Lawrence received her Bachelor of Arts degree in College Scholars with an emphasis in Ecology from the University of Tennessee in 1995 and completed her PhD in Entomology at the University of Kentucky in 2000. Kendra spent the next three years as a collateral faculty member at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh and the Virginia Commonwealth University before accepting a direct commission as a Captain in the U.S. Army. She served 9 years as an Army entomologist with assignments in Germany, at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the Armed Forces Pest Management Board, and a tour of duty in Iraq.

Kendra’s PhD training focused on understanding the relationships between spiders and their prey in forest-floor detritus communities. It was her entry into the Army that got her involved in working with vectors and vector-borne diseases. This experience expanded from applying methodologies in an operational environment to involvement in entomology and pest management research, development, and policy work for the US Army and Department of Defense. Kendra has experience conducting laboratory and field trials, including research involving humans, particularly with evaluating topical repellents.

Kendra served as a member of the Institutional Review Board at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. After the Army, Kendra worked as a contractor and senior scientific consultant for the US Army Medical Materiel Development Activity. She worked on the development and acquisition of medical entomology materiel solutions and products for the DoD and helped to bridge the gap between research and development (R&D) and advanced development within the larger DoD entomology community. 

Kendra presently works as a Department of Army Civilian at US Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA) as a Product Manager for Pharmaceutical Systems Project Management Office. She is charged with oversight of advanced development of medical products, including infectious disease vaccines, and also serves as a Senior Scientific Consultant or Subject Matter Expert to the Medical Support Systems Project Management Office on vector surveillance and personal protection product development efforts.