Duncan Hall, Room 237
Telephone: (408) 924-4916 
FAX: (408) 924-4840
E-mail: katherine.wilkinson@sjsu.edu

 

Education

• B.S. Neuroscience & B.A. History, University of Pittsburgh, 2004
• Ph.D. Biomedical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, 2009
• Postdoctoral Fellowship in Research and Scientific Teaching, Emory University, 2009-2012

Courses Taught

• Biol 136: Vertebrate Neurophysiology
• Biol 167: Cardiorespiratory Physiology
• Biol 178: Integrative Physiology
• BIOL 220: Scientific Communication
• Biol 255P: Advanced Graduate Seminar on Pain

Science Policy Blog

Active Learning Teaching Resources

Research Interests

My lab uses an isolated muscle-nerve preparation to study sensory plasticity. Muscles contain neurons which sense muscle length and movement and are the main contributors to the sense of body position and movement, or proprioception. Alterations to these sensory neurons can lead to movement and balance problems. We are currently studying the effect of inflammation and obesity on muscle proprioceptor activity.

* Students interested in my research lab are encouraged to contact me. Please include your transcripts, resume, and a few paragraphs about your career goals and why you want to work in my lab in particular. Wilkinson Lab Website. I do not accept high school students to work in the lab.

Selected Publications

S-H. Woo, V. Lukacs, J.C. de Nooij, D. Zaytseva^*, C.R. Criddle^*, A. Francisco, T.M. Jessell, K.A. Wilkinson, A. Patapoutian (2015) Piezo2 is the principal mechanotransduction channel for proprioception. Nat. Neurosci. (18), 1756-1762.

J.A. Franco*, H.E. Kloefkorn, S. Hochman, K.A. Wilkinson (2014) An In Vitro Adult Mouse Muscle-nerve Preparation for Studying the Firing Properties of Muscle Afferents. J. Vis. Exp. (91), e51948, doi:10.3791/51948.

K.A. Wilkinson, H.E. Kloefkorn*, S. Hochman (2012) Characterization of Muscle Spindle Afferents in the Adult Mouse Using an In Vitro Muscle-Nerve Preparation. PLoS ONE 7(6): e39140. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039140 

K.A. Wilkinson, Z. Fu, F.L. Powell (2011). Ventilatory effects of substance P-saporin lesions in the Nucleus Tractus Solitarii of chronically hypoxic rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 301(2):R343-50. 

K.A. Wilkinson, K.A. Huey, B. Dinger, L. He, S.J. Fidone, F.L. Powell (2010). Chronic hypoxia increases the gain of the hypoxic ventilatory response by a mechanism in the central nervous system. J Appl Physiol. 109(2):424-30.

* denotes undergraduate researcher