Shelby, Room 172-D
Phone: 934-0245 Fax: 934-1564
Email: rpk@uab.edu
Program Manager: Ronda F. Smith
Email: rhsmith@uab.edu
Administrative support: John Trombley
Biography
Robert P. Kimberly, MD, a native of New Haven, Conn., received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School after receiving a baccalaureate degree magna cum laude from Princeton University and a baccalaureate / master's degree from the University of Oxford, Oxford, England. Dr. Kimberly's achievements and honors include election to Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University, a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University, a "First" class degree from Oxford, and election to both the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.
Dr. Kimberly proceeded to do his internship and residency in Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. His professional training and experience has included appointments as Clinical Associate at the Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch of the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases; Fellow, Assistant, Associate, and Professor of Medicine at Cornell University Medical Center; Director of the Multipurpose Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Center at Cornell; and Program Director of the NIAMS Research Training Program in Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases at Cornell.
Dr. Kimberly joined the UAB faculty in 1996 as Professor of Medicine and the Howard L. Holley Research Chair of Rheumatology. He began his career at UAB as the Director of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology (1996-2007). Presently, Dr. Kimberly is the Director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (2012 – present), Senior Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research (2006-present) in the Heersink School of Medicine and the Associate Vice President for Medicine and Biomedical Research (2012 – present).
Dr. Kimberly is a clinical rheumatologist, immunologist and human geneticist; therefore, his research expertise involves the use of molecular immunology and immunogenetics to identify susceptibility and severity factors for human autoimmune disease and to identify new targets for therapeutic approaches. He is currently applying these strategies in several key clinical areas, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and the systemic vasculitides.
Dr. Kimberly is experienced in establishing collaborative research groups in clinical and translational research. Having been Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center (MCRC) and Rheumatic Diseases Core Center (RDCC), he was also the Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded, UAB Program Project in the Genetics of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), a unique consortium of seven academic centers that seeks to elucidate the underlying genetic basis of SLE with the intent of enhanced understanding of disease pathophysiology, improved patient care, informed drug design, and ultimately, disease prevention. In addition Dr. Kimberly created the Lupus End-Stage Renal Disease consortium (ESRD) to define the genetic underpinnings of one of the most important and expensive outcomes in lupus.
Dr. Kimberly served on and has chaired the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Group of Research Advancement and Development (GRAND) Steering Committee, served as president for the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) in addition to being director of the UAB FOCIS Center of Excellence in Clinical Immunology.