Walter Klimecki, DVM, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department:
Pharmacology and Toxicology
(520) 626-7470
Secondary Phone:
(520) 626-2598
E-mail:
Location:
Pharmacy 000314
Bio / Research:
Dr. Klimecki received his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Ohio State University in 1984, and practiced veterinary medicine and surgery for four years before entering graduate school. He received his PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from The University of Arizona in 1994. Following his post-doctoral work, he was one of the founding members of a biotech company started within Motorola in Tempe, Ariz. He returned to The University of Arizona in 2000, where he has been a human disease genetics/pharmacogenetics researcher, currently holding appointments in the College of Pharmacy, the Arizona Respiratory Center and the College of Medicine.
The focus of Dr. Klimecki's research program is the complicated balance between the particular DNA sequence “versions” of genes that we inherit from our ancestors, the particular environments that we progress through in life, and random chance. It is only by understanding this complicated balance that we will be able to predict an individual’s likelihood of disease, or their likelihood of responding to a particular drug, or their susceptibility to an environmental toxicant. In Dr. Klimecki's lab we extensively characterize individual differences in DNA sequence associated with genes of interest, as well as individual differences in the quantity of gene that is expressed as RNA. We study these things using both real-world human populations, particularly those exposed to environmental toxicant. We also use laboratory models of human populations such as lymphoblastoid cell lines from the International HapMap human study subjects.
Education:DVM, PhD