Kelsey earned her PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology from UNC Chapel Hill. Experiences that followed include a postdoctoral fellowship with the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative, a Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship at Drepung Loseling Science Center in south India, an Assistant Professorship at Chapman University, and developing online science courses for Tibetan Buddhist monastics. After completing the Syner-G Medical Writing Fellowship in December 2023, she has continued the work in her role as a Clinical Research Scientist I.