After earning a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Oregon Health Sciences University, and serving as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Immunology at the Portland (OR) VA Medical Center, Dr. Ken Cornell joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Boise State University in 2004. Dr. Cornell's research interests include antibiotic development targeting bacterial and parasite methionine salvage, farnesol metabolism in eukaryotic cells, and development of forensic reagents. One of the primary investigations in his lab is the identification of new targets for antimicrobial drug development.
Some of Dr. Cornell's current ongoing research support includes “A West Nile Virus Vaccine” Agency: DOD/CDMRP, Date: 09/09-08/10($940,000), “Global Consequences of Interruption of Microbial Autoinducer Signaling” Agency: NIH / Idaho INBRE, Date: 5/09-4/14 ($352,000), and “Acquisition of a Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometer” Agency: NSF MRI, Date: 08/09–07/12 ($597,877).