Kendra Bence, PhD, is Senior Director of Metabolism, heading up research and discovery efforts in the type II diabetes and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis therapeutic areas for the Pfizer Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research Unit. Dr. Bence leads a talented team of scientists focused on developing a deep understanding of the intricate biological mechanisms underlying type II diabetes and fatty liver disease, with the goal of identifying novel ways to treat and eventually prevent these metabolic diseases. She is also the Cardiovascular and Metabolic representative to the Pfizer WRD Post-Doctoral Program and has a strong commitment to training and mentoring the next generation of scientists. Dr. Bence has a long-standing interest in the pathogenesis of metabolic disease. She received her BA in Biology from Colgate University in 1993, and her PhD in Physiology and Biophysics from the Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University in 2000. Dr. Bence conducted her post-doctoral work at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School in Boston, where she became interested in the role of cellular signaling in the regulation of metabolism. In 2006, Dr. Bence joined the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania as an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and was subsequently promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. While at Penn, she served as the Director of Academic Enrichment for the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, and served on the American Diabetes Association grant review panel as well as on various National Institutes of Health study sections. Dr. Bence is most well-known for her work on the role of protein tyrosine phosphatases in metabolism, and has co-authored over 45 original research articles, book chapters and reviews to date. Her work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research