LTC Andrew R. Kick
Deputy Director - Life Science Program
Assistant Professor
andrew.kick@westpoint.edu
Biography
Lieutenant Colonel Kick is an Academy Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Life Science and serves as the Deputy Director of the Life Science program. Lieutenant Colonel Kick completed a B.S. in biology at the University of Dayton in 2000 and was commissioned through Army ROTC. As an army officer, he has served in four career fields: Chemical, Military Intelligence, Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Academy Professor. He has served in operational assignments in Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Aberdeen Proving Ground, and Fort Drum. In 2020, Lieutenant Colonel Kick completed a Ph.D. at North Carolina State University in Comparative Biomedical Sciences with an immunology concentration.
Lieutenant Colonel Kick teaches general chemistry, human physiology, genetics, and advanced techniques in light microscopy. He mentors and develops Cadets as a research advisor, department academic counselor, Cadet Skeet and Trap team officer representative, and Officer Christian Fellowship small group leader.
Ongoing Research Projects
Lieutenant Colonel Kick is an immunologist establishing DoD-relevant research along the following lines of effort: bacteriophage therapeutics; immunoreactivity to novel biomaterials; and pathogenicity of / immune responses to a model RNA virus (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus). He is a principal investigator in the Biodefense Protection Technologies Lab.
Publications & Presentations
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Kovacs, C.J.; Rapp, E.M.; Rankin, W.R.; McKenzie, S.M.; Brasko, B.K.; Hebert, K.E.; Bachert, B.A.; Kick, A.R.; Burpo, F.J.; Barnhill, J.C. Combinations of Bacteriophage Are Efficacious against Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enhance Sensitivity to Carbapenem Antibiotics. Viruses 2024, 16, 1000. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16071000
Hershfield, J., Bateman, S., Kick, A., O’Donovan, K., Barnhill, J., Burpo, F.J.* West Point Department of Chemistry and Life Science: Strengthening Army Medicine through Leadership and Research. The Medical Journal, US Army Medical Center of Excellence (MEDCoE), Accepted 15MAY24. In press, Fall 2024.
Kick, A.R.; Grete, A.F.; Crisci, E.; Almond, G.W.; Käser, T. Testable Candidate Immune Correlates of Protection for Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Vaccination. Vaccines 2023, 11, 594. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11030594
Bocard, L.V.; Kick, A.R.; Hug, C.; Lischer, H.E.L.; Käser, T.; Summerfield, A. Systems Immunology Analyses Following Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome Virus Infection and Vaccination. Frontiers in Immunology 2021, 12, doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.779747.
Kick AR, Grete AF, Crisci E, Almond GW, Käser T. Testable Candidate Immune Correlates of Protection for Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Vaccination. Vaccines. 2023; 11(3):594. doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11030594
Bocard LV, Kick AR, Hug C, Lischer HEL, Käser T, Summerfield A. Systems Immunology Analyses Following Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome Virus Infection and Vaccination. Frontiers in Immunology. 2021;12:5325. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.779747
Kick, A.R.; Amaral, A.F.; Frias-De-Diego, A.; Cortes, L.M.; Fogle, J.E.; Crisci, E.; Almond, G.W.; Käser, T. The Local and Systemic Humoral Immune Response Against Homologous and Heterologous Strains of the Type 2 Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus. Front. Immunol. 2021, 12, 631, doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.637613.
Kick, A.R.; Wolfe, Z.C.; Amaral, A.F.; Cortes, L.M.; Almond, G.W.; Crisci, E.; Gauger, P.C.; Pittman, J.; Käser, T. Maternal Autogenous Inactivated Virus Vaccination Boosts Immunity to PRRSV in Piglets. Vaccines 2021, 9, 106, doi:10.3390/vaccines9020106.
Amaral, A.F.; Rahman, K.S.; Kick, A.R.; Cortes, L.M.; Robertson, J.; Kaltenboeck, B.; Gerdts, V.; O'Connell, C.M.; Poston, T.B.; Zheng, X., et al. Mucosal Vaccination with UV-Inactivated. Vaccines (Basel) 2020, 8, doi:10.3390/vaccines8030353.
Kick, A.R.; Amaral, A.F.; Cortes, L.M.; Fogle, J.E.; Crisci, E.; Almond, G.W.; Kaser, T. The T-Cell Response to Type 2 Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV). Viruses 2019, 11, doi:10.3390/v11090796.
Kick, A.R.; Tompkins, M.B.; Flowers, W.L.; Whisnant, C.S.; Almond, G.W. Effects of stress associated with weaning on the adaptive immune system in pigs. J Anim Sci 2012, 90, 649-656, doi:10.2527/jas.2010-3470.
Kick, A. R., Tompkins, M. B., & Almond, G. W. Stress and immunity in the pig. CAB Reviews 2011, 6, 1-17, doi:10.1079/PAVSNNR20110018.
Kick, A.R.; Tompkins, M.B.; Hammer, J.M.; Routh, P.A.; Almond, G.W. Evaluation of peripheral lymphocytes after weaning and vaccination for Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Res Vet Sci 2011, 91, e68-72, doi:10.1016/j.rvsc.2010.11.005.
Technical Reports
Lagasse, B, Bowers P, Kick A, Gettings M, Chin J, Calangi N, Burpo FJ. Army Officer Corps Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Foundation Gaps Place Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Operations at Risk – Part 3. CWMD Journal. 2023;Spring / Summer 2023(26): 43-51.
Kick A, Lagasse, B, Hummel S, Gettings M, Bowers P, Burpo FJ. Army Officer Corps Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Foundation Gaps Place Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Operations at Risk – Part 2. CWMD Journal. 2022;Spring / Summer 2022(24):33-41.
Hummel S, Burpo FJ, Hershfield J, Kick A, O’Donovan KJ, Barnhill J. A New Age of Bioterror: Anticipating Exploitation of Tunable Viral Agents. CTC Sentinel. 2022;15(4):1-6. Accessed June 22, 2022. https://ctc.westpoint.edu/a-new-age-of-bioterror-anticipating-exploitation-of-tunable-viral-agents/
Kick A, Hummel S, Gettings M, Bowers P, Burpo FJ. Army Officer Corps Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Foundation Gaps Place Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Operations at Risk – Part 1. CWMD Journal. 2021;Fall / Winter 2021(23):88-94.
Abstracts & Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings
Hebert K, Tran A (research cadets). The Effects of Bacteriophage Therapeutics for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection on the Microbiome in a Model Organism. 7th Annual Tri-Service Microbiome Consortium Meeting (TSMC), Invited Speaker. September 27, 2023; Washington, DC.
Armstrong P, Pophal J (research cadets). Investigation of bacteriophage-host interactions using single molecule localization microscopy. Poster presented at: The Chemical and Biological Defense Science & Technology (CBD S&T) Conference; December 8, 2022; San Francisco, CA. (Poster)
Kick, A.R. Deciphering immunosuppression and immunological memory to homologous and heterologous strains of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus. 2018 North American PRRS Symposium, Invited Speaker. December 2018, Chicago, IL.
Kick, A.R. New tools to evaluate vaccine-induced efficacy to heterologous Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) strains. 23rd Annual North Carolina Veterinary Conference - Swine Session, Invited Speaker. November 2018, Raleigh, NC.