By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 23, 2022) — Everything can change in a moment.

It sounds like a cliché. But experiences, good and bad, have the power to fundamentally alter us — challenge our beliefs and influence our behaviors.

Can you pinpoint a “life-defining moment” — an experience that changed your life trajectory?

For Marissa Massey, recalling that moment is easy. But 12 years later, reliving that experience remains emotionally painful.

“I replay it in my head often,” she said.

It was February 2010, and Massey's brother — a seemingly healthy 16-year-old — woke up unable to move. After being rushed to the hospital, he received an incomprehensible diagnosis.

“Kevin went from a three-sport athlete to dying from a rare, inoperable brain cancer — specifically

By Richard LeComte 

On April 8 at 4 p.m., the Department of Chemistry will hold the first Susan A. Odom Lecture in the W.T. Young Auditorium. The guest speaker will be Jodie Lutkenhaus, professor of chemical engineering at Texas A&M University. Among her honors, she received the 2020 Outstanding Early Career Paper Award in Molecular Systems Design & Engineering. Learn more about Lutkenhaus and the event here.  

The lecture will mark the start of the Professor Susan A. Odom Chemistry Endowment Fund. Gifts to the fund will support:  

• A faculty position in Odom's name.  

• An annual named lecture in the area of organic or materials chemistry.   

• A named award for an undergraduate chemistry

By Olaoluwapo Onitiri

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The University of Kentucky has a high-quality environmental geoscience program and has produced excellent geologists like Rachel Nally, who is using the skills she developed through the program in her work as the environmental and sustainability manager at Heaven Hill Distilleries.

“As an undergraduate, the geoscience program provided me with a strong knowledge base of the breadth of natural sciences,” she said. “Because geology brings together concepts from chemistry, physics, geography — and even biology — and applies them to the Earth, it’s important to understand all the processes at play. I rely on this knowledge every day as I work to evaluate and reduce the consumption of natural resources by Heaven Hill’s distilleries and facilities. My graduate work in the

By Olaoluwapo Onitiri 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – In October 2021, The University of Kentucky announced the top 10 finalists for the fourth annual 5-minute Fast Track competition. Run by the Office of Undergraduate Research, the 5-Minute Fast cultivates students’ presentation and research communication skills and challenges them to describe their research within five minutes.  

UK College of Arts & Sciences students Lauren Hudson and Lexi Nolletti were among the finalists. They shared their experiences with the event and their research topics at UK. 

Q: Could tell us a little about yourselves? 

Hudson: “I am a senior neuroscience and biology dual degree with plans to attend UK College of Medicine in the fall. Living

By Dr. Kelly Hill and Mallory Profeta

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 16, 2022) — A multidisciplinary team at the University of Kentucky has joined forces to improve medical and mental health services for the LGBTQ+ community.     

“We’ve seen an increase in patients who are transgender or gender nonconforming  admitted to the UK HealthCare inpatient adolescent behavioral health unit,” said UK HealthCare child and adolescent psychiatrist Kelly Hill.

Transgender or gender nonconforming  youth are at a significantly greater risk for depression, self-injurious behaviors and substance use compared to cisgender peers. To make matters worse, research shows that they have difficulty finding medical and mental health services where they feel comfortable and often

By Alicia Gregory

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 16, 2022) — The University of Kentucky Office of the Vice President for Research has named four fellows to the Lyman T. Johnson Postdoctoral Fellowship and the University Research Postdoctoral Fellowship.  The Lyman T. Johnson Postdoctoral Fellowship is named in honor of UK's first Black graduate student and prioritizes funding for candidates from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in the faculty ranks. The University Research Postdoctoral Fellowship is for individuals training in disciplines with limited gender diversity.  

One of the University Research Postdoctoral Fellows is Amber Plemons, Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences. Her mentors are Hugo Reyes-Centeno and James Hartsfield.

By Kate Maddox

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 16, 2022) — Throughout March for Women’s History Month, the University of Kentucky is spotlighting Women Making History. These women are leading their fields of research, crossing traditional academic boundaries and impacting Kentucky’s most pressing challenges, including opioid use disorder treatment, aging and Alzheimer’s, water and air filtration, environmental impacts on health and suicide prevention.  

They are mentoring the next generation of women scientists and scholars, curating stories and creating artworks illuminating who we are. Their work and voice shape the University of Kentucky.  

On this “Wildcat Wednesday,” UK celebrates Lauren Hudson, a junior majoring in neuroscience and biology, from Villa Hills, Kentucky.  

By Melody Ryan and Craig Borie

LEXINGTON, Ky (March 11, 2022) — COVID-19 brought to the forefront the challenges of mental health around the world. During the Feb. 26, 2022 Global Mental Health Hack-A-Thon, University of Kentucky students and the Kentucky community proposed solutions to this global health challenge.

The event was sponsored by the UK Office of Global Health Initiatives, The Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship and the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise.

Hack-A-Thon teams and individuals used their talents to devise ideas to improve mental health in a rapidly paced half-day event. Participants received

By C. Lynn Hiler

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 14, 2022) — The University of Kentucky chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society inducted 232 new members during the Spring 2022 semester. The chapter’s induction ceremony was held in the Gatton Student Center Ballroom on Thursday, March 3. 

Alpha Lambda Delta offers various scholarship opportunities to its members, one of which a UK chapter member won this past summer. Former Chapter President Jessica Lamb was awarded the Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship in July 2021 for exceptional participation in academics, Alpha Lambda Delta activities and community service. 

“ALD has been one of my defining experiences at UK, and I am so excited and proud to be part of an organization that uplifts other driven, intelligent members of our

By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 14, 2022) — From laughable to just downright bizarre.

“I have a wildcat skull — "JOR" — given to me by former faculty member, Dr. Stemple. When he retired, he passed "JOR" down to me to take precious care of,” said Tammy Jo Edge, who works in the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences. “We always summon "JOR" for extra help during those tough games. I believe that 'JOR' was one tough warrior of a Wildcat in his day.”

Let’s face it, fan bases are a superstitious bunch. That includes us Wildcats.

“I have to watch UK March Madness games at the same restaurant — Cinco De Mayo in Lexington,” said Christina Lucas, who works at UK Eastern State Hospital. “Every game that I've watched there, UK has won.”

From the food on their plate

By Olaoluwapo Onitiri

LEXINGTON, KY. -- Anna Voskresensky, senior lecturer in Russian studies, has received the American Association of Slavic and East European Languages Award for Excellence in Teaching on the Post-Secondary Level. She received the award at the association’s conference in Philadelphia in February.

The association, which was founded in 1941, exists to advance the study and promote the teaching of Slavic and East European languages, literatures and cultures on all educational levels.

Jeffrey Peters, chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures, described Voskresensky as an amazing individual, as he congratulated her for her achievement.

“"Anna is a gem. She is creative, innovative, dynamic, and caring,

By Kate Maddox

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 9, 2022) — The University of Kentucky’s 2022 Naff Symposium will host four experts in the area of molecular neuroscience from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, April 1, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. A poster session will be held in conjunction with the symposium at the Jacobs Science Building.

The event is free and open to the UK community and the public.

Each year, the Department of Chemistry in the UK College of Arts and Sciences presents the symposium, which focuses

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 8, 2022) — The University of Kentucky Women’s Forum will celebrate the 2022 Sarah Bennett Holmes Award winners from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Wednesday, March 30, via Zoom. The award recipients from four categories — staff, faculty, graduate student and team — will be recognized during the event. All awardees have exemplified great work in their efforts and contributions to issues that affect women at the university and across the Commonwealth.

To join this virtual event to celebrate all of the nominees and award winners, please use this link: https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5jvTG9vinBA7Uto. Please register by 5 p.m., Tuesday, March 29.  Among the faculty

By Dave Melanson

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 8, 2022) — Organic semiconductors, often referred to as plastic electronics, offer key advantages for emerging electronic and communication devices, provided they can meet all the appropriate metrics for performance, stability and cost. While these materials are already widely used in display technologies — the organic light-emitting diodes used as the displays in televisions, tablets, smart phones and watches are the foundation of a multi-billion dollar per year industry — there remain several technical hurdles to widespread market adoption.

Two faculty members in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Chemistry, who also serve as affiliated faculty members at the 

LEXINGTON, Ky., (March 8, 2022) — The University of Kentucky Women’s Executive Leadership Development (WELD) program has announced its 2022 cohort of faculty and staff participants. The eight-month WELD program is designed to develop the next generation of UK leaders through retreats, monthly meetings, conversations with upper-level administrators, and a group project.  To date, there have been 151 participants with a record number of 31 participants in this year’s cohort.

To kick off the 2022 WELD program, UK Vice President for Institutional Diversity 

By Elizabeth Chapin

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 4, 2022) — Research from University of Kentucky faculty and students working to reduce the burden of substance use disorders in Kentucky and beyond was showcased at UK's Substance Use Research Event (SURE) on March 1.

The annual event, supported by the Office of the Vice President for Research, gives substance use researchers at UK the opportunity to present their work, network and build collaborations.

More than 200 attendees from 13 colleges across UK participated in SURE, which included 70 presentations and poster sessions on the latest basic science, pre-clinical, clinical and community research addressing substance use.

“We are excited to be back in-person and host this unique forum

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 2, 2022) — Throughout March for Women’s History Month, the University of Kentucky is spotlighting Women Making History. These women are leading their fields of research, crossing traditional academic boundaries and impacting Kentucky’s most pressing challenges including opioid use disorder treatment, aging and Alzheimer’s, water and air filtration, environmental impacts on health and suicide prevention. 

They are mentoring the next generation of women scientists and scholars, curating stories and creating artworks illuminating who we are. Their work and voices shape the University of Kentucky. 

On this Wildcat Wednesday, UK celebrates Kayli Bolton, a junior majoring in biology in the 

By Danielle Donham and Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 2, 2022) — In times of crisis and uncertainty, we look to those with knowledge and experience to lead us through understanding. From economics and trade to warfare and culture — our faculty members at the University of Kentucky are generous in sharing their expertise to help the campus community and beyond comprehend events that are unfolding in real-time.

UKNow spoke with Robert Farley (senior lecturer, Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce), 

By Hilary Brown and Allison Perry

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 25, 2022) – Sarah Katzenmaier is, by her own admission, a Halloween fanatic.

The Lexington native goes all out with her decorations. She celebrates her Oct. 29 birthday Halloween-style. And she’s been a “zombie” dancer in Lexington’s annual Thriller Parade for 10 years. On Oct. 24, 2021, she got ready for the parade just as she had every year prior.

“I wear a royal blue bridesmaid dress every year – it’s become my costume,” Sarah said. “I put on my zombie makeup with the dripping blood and bites and everything.”

The Thriller Parade is part of Lexington’s annual Halloween Festival. Hundreds of “zombies” lie in wait on Main Street,

By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 24, 2022) — Crystal Wilkinson, associate professor in the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, can add NAACP Image Award winner to her expansive and impressive list of accolades.

The Kentucky Poet Laureate’s book of poetry, “Perfect Black" (University Press of Kentucky), brought home the top honor in the category of “Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry.”

The NAACP Image Awards program highlights