Kendreze Holland is a sophomore Biology major at Georgia State University. He is an Honors College student and Hope Scholarship recipient. Through the National Cash Register Scholarship, he is a University Assistant that allows him to be a teaching assistant in Chemistry 1212K.Kendreze plans to obtain a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and teach at the university level.

The death of Kendreze’s grandmother due to cervical cancer in the summer of 2005, motivated a career in researching infectious diseases. During high school, he participated in Project ENGAGES, where he spent 20 hours/week during academic year and 40 hours/week during summers in the laboratory of Dr. Manu Platt at the Georgia Institute of Technology investigating the regulation of cathepsins and their link to sickle cell disease, breast cancer cell metastasis, and tendinopathy. He led journal club discussions on primary research articles at least once per semester. This past summer, he interned at Universityof California San Diego in the laboratory of Dr. Adam Engler. They used of micro-fabricated devices to expose endothelial cells derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells to different levels of turbulent flow, analyzing their morphology and behavioral responses. He presented his project at the Biomedical Engineering Society Conference in the Fall of 2017.

With his research experience, he hopes to participate in more summer programs. Outside of research, Kendreze loves to listen to jazz instruments, travel with close friends and family, and play basketball at his local recreation center.