Notable Alums

Kenneth

Specialty: Endocrinology

Graduation Year: 1977

Kenneth Honn

Kenneth Honn, Ph.D. ’77, is a Distinguished Professor of Pathology and director of the Bioactive Lipids Research Program for the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the field of cancer, inflammation and bioactive lipids.

Dr. Honn earned a bachelor’s degree (1967) and master’s degree (1968) in the biological sciences, with a minor in chemistry, from Wayne State University, and a doctorate in endocrinology, with a minor in biochemistry and a cognate in radiobiology.

After graduating, Dr. Honn joined the faculty of WSU School of Medicine as an assistant professor of Radiology, later becoming associate professor of Radiology and Radiation Oncology, then professor. In 2004 he was awarded the title of Distinguished Professor.

Dr. Honn is the founding member and president of the Eicosanoid Research Foundation and chair of the International Conference on Bioactive Lipids in Cancer, Inflammation and Related Diseases, a bi-annual international conference he initiated in 1989. He also has been head of the Prostate Cancer Program at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, a member of the Michigan Department of Community Health Prostate Cancer Advisory Committee and a board member of The Fund for Cancer Research.

He holds 17 U.S. patents, is the author of more than 300 published works and was proclaimed the most-cited scholar at WSU by its Board of Governors. He is a member of the editorial boards of 12 scientific journals and is co-editor-in-chief of Cancer and Metastasis Reviews.

Dr. Honn has had continuous external funding, with grants totaling more than $25 million, helps review grants for the National Cancer Institute and the Department of Defense, and has consulted for pharmaceutical companies.

He received the WSU School of Medicine Lawrence M. Wiener Award in 2014 and is a member of the Medical Alumni Association Board of Governors