Faculty Senate
Mavis Agbandje-McKenna
1963 - 2021
Dr. Mavis Agbandje-McKenna, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the College of Medicine and Director of the UF Center for Structural Biology, passed away on March 3, 2021.
Born in Nigeria, Dr. Agbandje-McKenna was living with her grandmother when civil war broke out in her country in the late 1960s. At the age of 11, she was able to leave and move to London to join her parents. She earned a Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of London, where she met her life-long research partner and husband, Robert McKenna, Ph.D., also a biochemistry professor at UF. In their partnership, they set off on the journey to solve the mystery of the virus structure for both pathogenic viruses and other unique members of the Parvovirus family, especially the key member, adeno-associated virus (AAV).
Dr. Agbandje-McKenna joined the University of Florida faculty in August 1999 and spent 21 years teaching and mentoring students at all levels from high school through postdoctoral associates. During her time at UF, she mentored 21 Ph.D. students and 3 Master’s students, and fulfilled countless other educational commitments at UF and around the world. Her commitment to teaching was honored with the College of Medicine’s Exemplary Teacher Award a record 10 times (2009-2019); she was the three-time recipient of the medical school’s Outstanding Teacher Award (2008-2010), and UF’s HHMI Distinguished Mentor Award (2006). In 2016, she was selected by graduate students to deliver the College of Medicine, Interdisciplinary Program Commencement Address.
Additionally, in 2017 Professor Agbandje-McKenna was awarded the UF College of Medicine’s Faculty Research Prize in Basic Science. In 2018 she was selected to receive UF’s Innovator of the Year award for the breadth and depth of her work with AAV gene therapy. Then in April 2020, she received the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy’s Outstanding Achievement Award, the group’s highest award, which recognizes pioneering research success.
Dr. Agbandje-McKenna’s work on the structure of AAV capsids had a worldwide impact, which allowed other scientists to be more precise in their use of viruses for therapeutics. She was instrumental in advancing the use of AAV as a leading gene-therapy vector to treat a variety of human diseases. She made remarkable contributions to the fundamental understanding of virus structure and was also pivotal in translating those discoveries into impactful technologies that will benefit generations to come.
In the heart of her students, she leaves the legacy of her love and enjoyment of science and challenged them, by her example, to commit to excellence in every detail of their work. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and her warm personality and infectious smile were endearing to all who knew her.