Kevin D. Wickman, PhD
Professor and Head; Frederick and Alice Stark Endowed Chair, Department of Pharmacology
Contact Info
Professor and Head; Frederick and Alice Stark Endowed Chair, Department of Pharmacology
Faculty, Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Faculty, MS and PhD Programs in Pharmacology
Preceptor, Medical Scientist Training Program (Combined MD/PhD Training Program)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Postdoctoral Fellow, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ
PhD in Molecular Neuroscience, Mayo Foundation, Rochester, MN
BA in Chemistry, Saint Olaf College, Northfield, MN
Summary
Dr. Wickman is a Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacology. He received his BA in Chemistry (summa cum laude) from Saint Olaf College in Northfield, MN. Subsequently, he earned his PhD in Molecular Neuroscience (advisor: Dr. David Clapham) from the Mayo Foundation for Biomedical Research in Rochester, MN. Following postdoctoral training at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale (advisor: Dr. Sandra Gendler) and Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA (advisor: Dr. David Clapham), he accepted a tenure-track faculty position (Assistant Professor) in Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota in 1999. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005, and Professor in 2011. He currently holds the titles of Distinguished University Teaching Professor and Distinguished McKnight University Professor.
Expertise
signal transduction, G proteins, ion channels, neuropharmacology
Awards & Recognition
Wallin Neuroscience Discovery Award (2019) Distinguished McKnight University Professor (2019) Distinguished University Teaching Professor (2014) Medical School Distinguished Teaching Award (2013) NIH/NIDA Cutting Edge Basic Research Award (2009) Outstanding Medical School Teacher Award (2008) McKnight Land-Grant Professorship (2002-2004) Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America Award (2001)
Professional Associations
Society for Neuroscience American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Research Society on Alcoholism
Research
Research Summary/Interests
Research in the Wickman lab centers on mechanisms controlling the excitability of cells in the heart and brain. Dysregulation of cell excitability contributes to many debilitating and/or life-threatening medical conditions, including cardiac arrhythmias, epilepsy, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, Down Syndrome, addiction, and pain. The Wickman lab seeks to obtain detailed understanding of molecular mechanisms that regulate cell excitability, so that safer and more effective strategies to treat these medical problems can be envisioned and developed. Investigators in the Wickman lab are currently using approaches in electrophysiology, neuromodulation, genetic manipulation, intracranial pharmacology, cardiac physiology, and behavioral assessments relevant to addiction, anxiety, learning, and pain to understand the physiological and pathophysiological relevance of inhibitory signaling pathways.