Kelly Malcom
Lead Research Communicator

Malcom is a lead research communicator for Michigan Medicine and research communications strategist for the U-M Medical School, with more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, marketing, and health and science writing. She covers the basic science departments, pulmonary and critical care medicine, infectious disease, pathology and anesthesiology. Contact: [email protected]
Kelly Malcom photo
cancer cell drawing in blue ink on off white background with floating yellow dots two of them
Health Lab
Researchers engineer a herpes virus to turn on T cells for immunotherapy
The University of Michigan team identified herpesvirus saimiri, which infects the T cells of squirrel monkeys, as a source of proteins that activate pathways in T cells that are needed to promote T cell survival.
 worms green on left dead and on left worms in yellow alive with a divide down the middle to show seperation from one another
Health Lab
The scent of death?
New research work discovers that the presence of dead members of C. elegans has profound behavioral and physiological effects, leading the worms to more quickly reproduce and shorten their lifespans.
 black circle with sparkle looking dots moving
Health Lab
Improved model system allows researchers to study embryo development
Research improves upon a popular experimental model revealing more of the inner workings of a critical period during the formation of an embryo.
 Gilbert Omenn and Martha Darling pose in front of a portrait of Omenn at the University of Michigan Medical School. Omenn is wearing a suit and tie and Darling is wearing a colorful print blazer.
Medicine at Michigan
$25M gift builds U-M’s leadership in health care AI
Gilbert S. Omenn, M.D., Ph.D., and his wife, Martha A. Darling, gave $25 million to the Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics (DCMB) at the Medical School.
 RNA strand in purple on black background
Health Lab
A structural biologist weighs in on the tricky task of determining RNA’s shape
A recent article in Nature details why the quest to determine the shapes of RNA is difficult even for artificial intelligence.
 pointing to worm on screen
Health Lab
Planarian worms can regenerate into a more youthful version of themselves
Study finds planarian worms can regenerate into a more youthful version of themselves.
 breastfeeding pump close up woman holding it close up
Health Lab
Study examines lactation in critically ill patients
University of Michigan research reveals that simple awareness from the hospital care team can help protect a breastfeeding relationship for patients in the ICU and their newborn baby.
 sperm moving to cell all blue and cell red
Health Lab
Battle of the sex chromosomes
A study from University of Michigan researchers has uncovered the mechanism behind the arms race for mouse X and Y bearing sperm to fertilize an egg.
Health Lab
This season’s flu and COVID shots helped prevent serious illness
So far, this season's flu and COVID vaccines appear to have been effective at preventing serious illness, finds a study from U-M experts and others
 cancer cell drawing in blue some yellow off white background
Health Lab
Histotripsy can help release HER2 from cancer tumor cells
A study demonstrates how histotripsy could stimulate the immune system to destroy a cancer through the release of tumor antigens.
 cells up close from inside lungs in red in the image of a clear see through body
Health Lab
Scientists track pneumonia-causing bacteria as they infect the blood stream
Using an innovative barcoding-style system, a team labels bacteria with short snippets of DNA in mouse models and uses computer analysis to track the movement of K. pneumoniae throughout the body.
 drawings of surgeons looking over patient
Health Lab
Use of greener anesthesia protects patients and the environment
A study performed at Michigan Medicine reveals that the use of less polluting inhaled anesthetic agents reduced harmful emissions by 50% in one year without impacting patient safety or outcomes.
 lungs
Health Lab
A treatment-resistant, severe type of asthma successfully modeled in mice
A team of researchers are trying to address a lack of knowledge around neutrophilic asthma and have developed one of the first mouse models for the condition.
 laptop graphic with stethoscope
Health Lab
Adults don’t trust health care to use AI responsibly and without harm
Research finds that adults surveyed had low trust in their health care system to use artificial intelligence responsibly and others had low trust in their health care systems to make sure an AI tool would not harm them.
 brain drawn
Health Lab
Gene therapy for rare epilepsy shows promise in mice
Dravet syndrome and other developmental epileptic encephalopathies are rare but devastating conditions. Research from Michigan Medicine takes aim at variant in SCN1B, which causes an even more severe form of DEE.
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