George A. Wilkinson, PhD

Titles
Investigator, Children's Research Institute; assistant professor, Pediatrics, The Medical College of Wisconsin.

Division
Genetics

Research center/program
Developmental Vascular Biology Program

Research interests
Birthmarks and vascular anomalies, Cancer, cell and developmental biology.

Study interests
Angiogenesis, vascular development, lung development, endothelial cell biology.

Education
Doctorate, University of California, San Francisco, 1997; post-doctoral fellowships, EMBI, Heidelberg, Germany; Max-Planck Institute for Neurobiology, Martinsried, Germany.

Honors
Poster selected for rapid communication talk, 3rd International Symposium of the German Priority Research Program,  Angiogenesis: Molecular Mechanisms, Kloster Seeon, Germany, 2004; poster selected for oral presentation, Gordon Conference, Endothelial Phenotypes in Health and Disease, Biddeford, ME, 2006; Young Investigator Award and talk, 3rd Mayo Clinic Angiogenesis Symposium, Rochester, MN, 2008.

Representative publications

• Adams RH, Wilkinson GA, Weiss C, Diella F, Gale NW, Deutsch U, Risau W, Klein R. Roles of EphrinB Ligands and EphB Receptors in Cardiovascular Development: Demarcation of Arterial/Venous Domains, Vascular Morphogenesis and Sprouting Angiogenesis. Genes Development. 1999; 13(3):295-306. PMCID: PMC316426.
• Makinen T, Adams RH, Bailey J, Lu Q, Ziemiecki A, Alitalo K, Klein R, Wilkinson GA*. PDZ Interaction Site in EphrinB2 is required for the Remodeling of Lymphatic Vasculature. Genes Development. 2005; 19(3):397-410.
• Wilkinson GA, Schittny JC, Reinhardt D, Klein R. Postnatal Lung Development and Extracellular Matrix Integrity Depend on Vascular EphrinB2 Function. Dev Dynamics. 2008; 237:2220-2234. PMCID: PMC546518.
• Verma A, Bhattacharya R, Remadevi I, Li K, Pramanik K, Samant GV, Horswill M, Chun CZ, Zhao B, Wang E, Miao, RQ, Mukhopadhyay D, Ramchandran R, Wilkinson, GA. Ecscr Promotes Angioblast Migration during Vasculogenesis and Enhances KDR Sensitivity. Blood. 2010, Jan. 19. PMID: 20086248 PMCID:PMC2881497.
• Sawamiphak S, Seidel S, Essmann CL, Wilkinson GA, Pitulescu ME, Acker T, Acker-Palmer A. Ephrin-B2 Regulates VEGFR2 Function in Developmental and Tumour Angiogenesis. Nature. 2010 May 27, 465(7297):487-91. PMID: 20445540, PMCID in progress.
• Meyer-Franke A*, Wilkinson GA*, Kruttgen A, Hu M, Munro E, Hanson MG Jr, Reichardt LF, Barres BA. Depolarization and cAMP Elevation Rapidly Recruit TrkB to the Plasma Membrane of CNS Neurons. Neuron. 1998; 21:681-93, PMCID: PMC2693071.

Grants

• Activation of VEGF Receptors during Zebrafish Migration, Children's Research Institute Pilot Innovative Research grant, principal investigator.
• ECSCR, a Novel Enhancer of VEGF-dependent Migration, American Heart Association Scientist Development grant, principal investigator.
• Ephrin-B2 Enhances KDR Signaling in Developing Lung, March of Dimes, principal investigator.

Contact

Children's Research Institute
Developmental Vascular Biology Program
TBRC/CRI Building C-3415
8701 Watertown Plank Road
Wauwatosa, WI 53226
Phone: (414) 955-2389
Fax: (414) 955-6325
E-mail: gwilkins@mcw.edu