Contact:       
Email:  kfisher@chapman.edu; kdfisher@uci.edu
Work Phone:  714-516-5469
Cell: 404-547-6866

Education and Training:
2001-2006    University of Georgia                                      Athens, GA
BS Biology, BS Genetics

2006-2012    Wake Forest School of Medicine      Winston-Salem, NC
Ph.D. Molecular Medicine and Translational Science

2012-2014      Vanderbilt University                                Nashville, TN
Postdoctoral Fellowship

2014-current  Chapman University                                       Irvine, CA
Postdoctoral Fellowship

Biography:      

Kimberly Fisher Atkinson, Ph.D.
My thesis work was done in the lab of Dr. Thomas DuBose, Jr. and focused on the kidney’s response to an acid load through increased acid secretion.  The title of my dissertation was “Regulation of ATPase-mediated H⁺ secretion in the medullary collecting duct by Pyk2, a pH-sensing tyrosine kinase and its involvement in the regulation of acid-base homeostasis by the kidney collecting duct.” I have one primary manuscript published in AJP – Renal Physiology (2012) and another under review.  I am a molecular biologist that uses cultured cells (in vitro) and mice (in vivo) to study signaling mechanisms involved in human disease.  My postdoctoral work at Vanderbilt in the lab of Dr. Raymond Harris focused on the role of cannabinoid receptors and other G protein coupled receptors in hypertension.

I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at Chapman University in the lab of Dr. Surya Nauli studying the role of primary cilia in human disease. Potential avenues of research include the involvement of the primary cilia in ciliopathies such as polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and targeting the centrosome and primary cilia in cancer therapy.