Gwendalyn King, PhD

Department

• Biology

Position

• Associate Professor

Secondary Appointment

• College of Professional and Continuing Education

• BIO 362 Cell Structure and Function
• BIO 462 Neurobiology
• BIO 463 Neurobiology laboratory
• NES 498 Neuroscience in the Community
• NES 510 Neurophysiology lab
• NES/BIO 464 Neurobiology of Disease

I was raised in Loveland, Colorado.  I earned my Bachelor of Science Degree from the Purdue University School of Science in Molecular Biology with research honors.  I conducted undergraduate research to understand why leeches can regenerate their nerve cord but humans cannot regenerate their spinal cord.  I then directly entered the PIBS program at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and joined the Neuroscience Program.  In completing my Ph.D. I earned an F31 fellowsihp from NIH and published several papers on the intracellular protein:protein interactions of the amyloid precursor protein. From there I moved to my first postdoctoral fellowship at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center's Gene Therapeutics Research Inistitute.  I was earned an F32 fellowship from NIH for my work characterizing a combination therapy to treat glioma.  My second postdoctoral fellowship was at Boston University's Biochemistry Department.  There I conducted work to understand the mechanisms of age-related klotho gene expression downregulation. I was earned a K99/R01 NIH award to transition from postdoctoral fellow to tenure-track Faculty.  I moved to the University of Alabama at Birmingham taking my first faculty position in the Department of Neurobiology in the School of Medicine.  There I taught medical, graduate, and undergraduate courses.  I also published papers from the discoveries made in my research lab and mentored undergraduate, post-bac, and Ph.D. students.  I earned several small grants and an R56 from NIH. I am currently a member of the Creighton Biology faculty supporting the interdepartmental Neuroscience Program in every academic direction: service, teaching, and research.  My lab was awarded its first R15 at Creighton in 2020 where we use mouse models of aging to understand age-related change of the brain. Information about my research, past and present can be found at gdkinglab.com. 

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Research and Scholarship Interests

• gdkinglab.com

Grant Funding Received

• CURAS Director’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship - student Tavian Sanchez

• Dean's Award for Professional Excellence: Major Advising, CCAS Student Senate, 2023
• Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Award for Teaching Achievement, Creighton Student Union, 2022
• Outstanding Service Award, University of Alabama at Birmingham Graduate in Biomedical Sciences, 2017
• Graduate School Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentorship, University of Alabama at Birmingham Graduate School , 2015