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Faculty Detail     Name ROBERT P KIMBERLY   Campus Address SHEL 172B Zip 2182 Phone 205-934-0245 E-mail rpk@uab.edu Other websites

Faculty Appointment(s) Appointment Type Department Division Rank Primary  Medicine  Med - Immunology/Rheumatology Professor Secondary  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology Professor Secondary  Genetics   Genetics Chair Office Professor Secondary  Microbiology  Microbiology Professor Center  Arthritis & Musculoskeletal Diseases Center  Arthritis & Musculoskeletal Diseases Center Professor Center  Center for AIDS Research  Center for AIDS Research Professor Center  Center for Metabolic Bone Disease  Center for Metabolic Bone Disease Professor Center  General Clinical Research Center  Center for Outcomes & Effectiveness Res & Educ Professor Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center Professor Center  General Clinical Research Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Professor Center  General Clinical Research Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor Center  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Ctr for Exercise Medicine Professor Center  General Clinical Research Center  Minority Health & Research Center Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations Cellular and Molecular Biology Program  Hughes Med-Grad Fellowship Program  Integrative Genetics Graduate Program  Medical Scientist Training Program

Biographical Sketch  Robert P. Kimberly, MD, is Senior Associate Dean for Research and Director of the UAB Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Center (AMC). He is a rheumatologist and immunologist with expertise in autoimmune disease including systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic vasculitis and rheumatoid arthritis. He is experienced in establishing collaborative research groups in clinical and translational research, and is currently the Principal Investigator of the UAB Program Project in the Genetics of SLE, a unique consortium of seven academic centers. Dr. Kimberly is co-leader, with Dr. Kaslow, of the Genetics and Functional Genomics workgroup of the AMC. He has served on, and chaired, the Center for Scientific Review GMA-1 Study Section, various review groups for NIAMS Multipurpose Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Centers, for NIAMS Rheumatic Disease Core Centers, for assorted Program Projects (NIAMS, NIAID, NIDDK), and GCRC review groups. He has chaired the Peer Review Council of the National Arthritis Foundation in 1999 and 2000, the Medical and Scientific Committee of the National Arthritis Foundation and was a member of the Arthritis Foundation’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Research. He was an invited member of the NIAMS Centers Working Group I (1996), was a contributing member to the NIAID Task Force on Immunology XI (1997) and served on the NIAMS Scientific Program Planning Retreat meeting (2001). He has served on multiple national committees for the American College of Rheumatology and is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. He has also served on the Editorial Boards of Arthritis and Rheumatism, Journal of Clinical Investigation, and Genes and Immunity.

Society Memberships Organization Name Position Held Org Link Alliance for Lupus Research  Scientific Advisory Board    American Association of Immunology      American College of Rheumatology      Arthritis Foundation  Trustee    Clinical Immunology Society

Research/Clinical Interest Title Autoimmunity, Molecular Mechanisms and Genetic Risk Description Our laboratory is interested in the role of genetic factors in the normal function of the immune system and in development of autoimmune and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and systemic vasculitis. Our approach has focused on receptors for immunoglobulin as a model system and has explored molecular mechanisms of receptor signaling and the molecular basis for receptor polymorphisms in humans. Studies in cell lines and in normal donors have demonstrated that despite the common theme of receptor-induced tyrosine phosphorylation the various human Fc receptors engage of different signaling elements which are reflected in important distinctions in function. Similarly, allelic variations in receptor structure profoundly affect receptor function, and certain low-binding alleles are enriched in SLE patients. More active alleles are over-represented in patients with vasculitis and severe renal disease. Other genes and gene families are being pursued as they are identified as candidate genes through genome scans, family studies and linkage studies. These genes include complement receptors, cytokine genes and their promoters, signal transduction molecules, and members of the TNF superfamily.

Selected Publications  Publication PUBMEDID Croker JA, Kimberly RP. SLE: challenges and candidates in human disease. Trends Immunol. 2005 Sep 13.   16168709   Yang X, Wang J, Liu C, Grizzle WE, Yu S, Zhang S, Barnes S, Koopman WJ, Mountz JD, Kimberly RP, Zhang HG. Cleavage of p53-vimentin complex enhances tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand-mediated apoptosis of rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts. Am J Pathol. 2005 Sep; 167(3):705-19.   16127151  Croker JA, Kimberly RP. Genetics of susceptibility and severity in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2005 Sep; 17(5):529-37.   16093829   Szalai AJ, Alarcon GS, Calvo-Alen J, Toloza SM, McCrory MA, Edberg JC, McGwin G Jr, Bastian HM, Fessler BJ, Vila LM, Kimberly RP, Reveille JD. Systemic lupus erythematosus in a multiethnic US Cohort (LUMINA). XXX: association between C-reactive protein (CRP) gene polymorphisms and vascular events. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2005 Jul; 44(7):864-8.   15797975  Szalai AJ, Wu J, Lange EM, McCrory MA, Langefeld CD, Williams A, Zakharkin SO, George V, Allison DB, Cooper GS, Xie F, Fan Z, Edberg JC, Kimberly RP. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the C-reactive protein (CRP) gene promoter that affect transcription factor binding, alter transcriptional activity, and associate with differences in baseline serum CRP level. J Mol Med. 2005 Jun; 83(6):440-7.   15778807   Gottenberg JE, Busson M, Cohen-Solal J, Lavie F, Abbed K, Kimberly RP, Sibilia J, Mariette X. Correlation of serum B lymphocyte stimulator and beta2 microglobulin with autoantibody secretion and systemic involvement in primary Sjogren's syndrome. Ann Rheum Dis. 2005 Jul; 64(7):1050-5.   15640273  Hughes LB, Criswell LA, Beasley TM, Edberg JC, Kimberly RP, Moreland LW, Seldin MF, Bridges SL. Genetic risk factors for infection in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Genes Immun. 5:641-7, 2004.   15526004  Criswell LA, Lum RF, Turner KN, Woehl B, Zhu Y, Wang J, Tiwari HK, Edberg JC, Kimberly RP, Moreland LW, Seldin MF, Bridges SL Jr. The influence of genetic variation in the HLA-DRB1 and LTA-TNF regions on the response to treatment of early rheumatoid arthritis with methotrexate or etanercept. Arthritis Rheum. 2004 Sep; 50(9):2750-6.   15457442   Huizinga TWJ, Pisetsky DS, Kimberly RP. Associations, populations and the truth. Recommendations for genetic association studies in Arthritis and Rheumatism. Arthritis Rheum 50: 2066-2071, 2004.  15248203  Zhou T, Wang H, Luo D, Rowe T, Wang Z, Hogan RJ, Qiu S, Bunzel RJ, Huang G, Mishra V, Voss TG, Kimberly R, Luo M. An exposed domain in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus spike protein induces neutralizing antibodies. J Virol. 2004 Jul;78(13):7217-26.   15194798  First Prev   1 2 3 of  3  Next Last

Keywords autoimmunity, immune-mediated inflammatory disease, Fc receptors, single nucleotide polymorphisms, immunogenetics, functional genomics

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