An “Extraordinary Citizen” of the University: Endo’s Brandon Kemp Receives UVA’s Top Employee Award

Brandon Kemp spends his days in the lab of Endocrinology professor Robert Carey — but his professional and volunteer efforts have had an impact far beyond its walls. This May, Brandon was honored with a 2016 Leonard W. Sandridge Outstanding Contribution Award — the highest honor available for a UVA staff member.

A senior laboratory and research specialist, Brandon has worked in the Carey Lab since graduating from UVA 11 years ago. According to Dr. Carey, dean emeritus of the School of Medicine and an eminent researcher in the field of endocrinology, Brandon’s work has been “absolutely vital” to the success of Carey’s research enterprise. In his nomination letter, Carey wrote: “I have heard of no other laboratory specialist who has contributed to the thinking behind experiments, performed the majority of the work, analyzed and helped interpret the results, and written large sections of scientific manuscripts and presentations, including figures and tables.”

Dr. Carey noted that Brandon is first author on five publications in high-impact journals, including Endocrinology, Hypertension, and Kidney International, co-author on another fifteen, and regularly presents papers at conferences and meetings. Brandon has also been key in securing NIH research funding for the Carey lab.

Like Leonard Sandridge himself, Brandon has also been an “extraordinary citizen” of UVA. As co-chair of the Department of Medicine’s Staff Employee Advisory Council, Brandon has been instrumental in organizing and leading two on-going, annual events for Charlottesville secondary school students. “Inside UVA Medicine” provides an opportunity for Buford seventh graders to experience the many facets of academic medicine (with about 300 students, the 7th grade class must be split in half and they visit on two different days). And the “Future Leaders in Health Care” symposium for CHS students gives them a chance to research a topic in the medical literature and present their findings in the form of a scientific poster; they are judged by a panel of UVA and CHS faculty. Both events involve many volunteer hours on the part of Brandon and other DOM and SOM staff members to organize and run.

Brandon is a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and attended Davidson College in North Carolina for a year before transferring to UVA. He started working in Dr. Carey’s lab while an undergraduate, and stayed on in a professional capacity after graduating in 2005. His exemplary work ethic has been honored previously with a Department of Medicine Employee of the Month award and, in 2013, a DOM Employee of the Year award for leadership in laboratory service and research.

About the award: Named for legendary UVA administrator Leonard Sandridge (when he retired in 2011, Mr. Sandridge was the University’s executive vice president and chief operating officer), the award is given to 11 UVA employees each year — five from the academic division, five from the medical center, and one from the College at Wise — who are chosen based on exemplary service and commitment to the University. It is the highest honor for UVA staff members. Each honoree receives a cash award and an engraved gift. Award-winners join the Board of Visitors for a luncheon in Newcomb Hall Ballroom in June.

A story about the 2016 Leonard Sandridge award-winners, including Brandon, appeared in the June 10th issue of UVA Today. Read it here: https://www.news.virginia.edu/content/sandridge-award-winning-employees-add-special-touches-uva.