Rate My Professor Katherine Wilkinson

Katherine Wilkinson is a Professor of Biological Sciences at San José State University, where she leads the Wilkinson Neurophysiology Lab. She received a B.S. in Neuroscience and a B.A. in History from the University of Pittsburgh in 2004, a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, San Diego in 2009, and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Research and Scientific Teaching at Emory University from 2009 to 2012. Following her postdoctoral work, she joined San José State University as an assistant professor and advanced to full professor. Wilkinson received the American Physiological Society’s 2017 ADInstruments Macknight Early Career Innovative Educator Award for developing a hypothesis-driven laboratory component for an upper-division undergraduate neurophysiology course. She serves as the current chair of the American Physiological Society’s Science Policy Committee and contributes to science policy through a dedicated blog.

Her research in neurophysiology examines muscle spindle afferents, the sensory neurons that detect muscle length and movement, forming the basis of proprioception and the muscle stretch reflex. Alterations in these neurons contribute to movement and balance disorders, and her work explores how they convert muscle stretch into action potentials. Key publications include 'Excessive mechanotransduction in sensory neurons causes joint contractures' (Science, 2023), co-authored with Ardem Patapoutian; 'Piezo2 is the principal mechanotransduction channel for proprioception' (Nature Neuroscience, 2015); 'Vesicle-Released Glutamate is Necessary to Maintain Muscle Spindle Afferent Excitability but Not Dynamic Sensitivity in Adult Mice' (Journal of Physiology, 2021); 'Molecular Determinants of mechanosensation in the muscle spindle' (Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2022); and 'Methodological advances for studying gamma motor neurons' (Current Opinion in Physiology, 2020). Additional studies address effects of diet-induced obesity and inflammation on muscle spindle function and Hoffmann’s reflex, published in Physiological Reports and PLoS ONE (2018-2019). With over 850 citations, her contributions advance understanding of sensory mechanotransduction. Wilkinson teaches courses including Principles of Biology I, Vertebrate Neurophysiology, Cardiorespiratory Physiology, Integrative Physiology, Scientific Communication, and Advanced Graduate Seminar on Pain.