{"id":124340,"date":"2025-08-05T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=124340"},"modified":"2025-08-05T09:02:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T14:02:06","slug":"spotlight-on-jennifer-endres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/08\/05\/spotlight-on-jennifer-endres\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight on: Jennifer Endres"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jennifer Endres is the answer person in Dr. Ken Bayles\u2019 lab at UNMC. When someone has a question, she\u2019s the one they turn to. \u201cI\u2019ve been around for a long time, so I kind of know the ropes of the department a little bit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her nearly 20 years working in Dr. Bayles\u2019 lab, her job title has changed\u2014from technician to researcher to research coordinator, and she also picked up a master\u2019s degree along the way\u2014but her role has remained largely the same. Whether technician or coordinator, she has always focused on helping everyone who works in the lab do their job as effectively as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn our lab I help by placing orders, I help by making sure the equipment is working properly, I work with vendors when we order new equipment. I learn the technologies, I understand how the technologies work so we may be able to apply those to our research,\u201d she said. \u201cI also get to do my own research and study of bacteria, of staph aureus in particular. I kind of have my hands on everything, in little bits and pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Bayles called Endres the backbone of his lab. \u201cShe was my first hire, and I couldn\u2019t have been more fortunate to have such a talented person help me start my research program here at UNMC,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce she gained experience in my lab, she played a key role in maintaining the continuity of expertise needed to train new researchers, perform the \u2018critical\u2019 experiments, and to continue moving our research forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endres grew up in Polk City, north of Des Moines, and earned a bachelor\u2019s degree at Iowa State University. Her fiance moved to Omaha to work for Union Pacific. \u201cHe lived here for a year before we got married. I applied for this job, went on my honeymoon, came back and interviewed and then started.\u201d That was the fall of 2005, and back then the lab was in Poynter Hall. The lab moved to Durham Research Center II in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd the only reason I remember that is I believe we moved in April, and I had my daughter in June,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cShe\u2019s 16, she\u2019ll be a junior at Papillion La Vista. And my son is 13.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When not at work, she and her husband are hauling the kids around to their activities\u2014swimming, baseball, dance class, tennis. \u201cSo we stay pretty busy,\u201d Endres said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m kind of a mom in the lab, too,\u201d she said. \u201cI enjoy interacting with people, I enjoy the variety. I enjoy being on the bench and moving around. My desk is in the lab for a reason, so I\u2019m accessible to people. And Dr. Bayles (who was her adviser for graduate school) has always given me the freedom to do the things that interest me on the bench, in science, and has been a great role model for how to respect and allow people to take the reins of their own careers and be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jennifer Endres’ job title has changed in her nearly 20 years working in Dr. Ken Bayles’ lab, but her focus has always remained on helping everyone who works there do their job as effectively as 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