Dr. Kemp received his Ph.D. in immunology in 2005 from the University of Iowa and afterwards began his postdoctoral fellowship at Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research under Dr. Ligia Pinto. His postdoctoral research focused on investigating immune parameters, such as functional antibody responses, as well as measuring cytokines from various biospecimen sources (cervical secretions, serum, and saliva) in clinical trials of women vaccinated with a human papillomavirus (HPV)16/HPV18 L1 VLP vaccine. In 2017, Kemp was appointed manager of the newly formed HPV Serology Laboratory, part of the HPV Standardization Initiative funded by NCI and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. With the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the HPV Serology Laboratory was tasked with helping other government agencies with serology testing and expanded from HPV production and serology testing to COVID serology testing as well.
