Kathleen Anne Clark, PhD, is a research assistant professor of biology at the University of Utah and a multidisciplinary clinic faculty member at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Her work offers wide applications for understanding both normal and cancerous cell behavior.

Microscopically small yet extraordinarily complex, cells depend, to a large extent, on chemical compounds known as proteins for healthy functioning. Clark’s research focuses on understanding how proteins located in the cell’s structural framework, or cytoskeleton, send and receive messages critical for cell functioning. Her extensive studies of the muscle cells of the fruit fly lead her to explore human medical conditions such as cardiomyopathy and muscular dystrophy.

Clark received her BS in biochemistry from Texas A&M University in 1990 and her PhD in cell and molecular biology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 1996. She received postdoctoral fellowships from the American Heart Association Western States Affiliate and from the National Institutes of Health, and is currently a member of the Genetics Society of America and the American Society of Cell Biology. Her research articles have appeared in the Journal of Cell Biology and other scientific publications.