Kathryn "Kat" Jespersen, Ph.D.
Teaching anatomy has been Dr. Jespersen’s passion since she began working as a teaching assistant for her undergraduate university's Anatomy & Physiology series and fell in love with learning about the human body. Dr. Jespersen pursued her enthusiasm for science and completed a Ph.D. in Genetics, Cell Biology, and Anatomy at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where she conducted research in a vascular surgery lab and explored the curious negative relationship between Type 2 diabetes and abdominal aortic aneurysm growth.
Since completing her degree, she has taught cadaver-based gross human anatomy for undergraduate, physical therapy, occupational therapy, athletic training, nurse practitioner, masters of anatomy, and medical programs. Dr. Jespersen’s primary goals are to to provide excellent anatomy education for future medical professionals and to participate in and to communicate high-quality, evidence-based scientific research to both the medical community and the public. Outside of academia, she enjoys hiking, weightlifting, cooking new recipes, reading historical fiction, and spending time with her husband and their two dogs and cat.
Professional Profiles: LinkedIn, Google Scholar
- Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology - Anatomy Teaching Track
- B.S. in Biology - Biomedical Science track
Gross anatomy and histology in the DO, MHS, and PA programs at Touro Nevada.
- Jespersen KE, Xiong W, Santhanam L, Terrin M, Matsumura J, Curci JA, Blackwelder W, Brown CH, Martinez Yus M, and Baxter BT. Hyperglycemia inhibits AAA expansion: examining the role of lysyl oxidase, American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 2025, 328:2, H247-H259. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00163.2024
- Jespersen, Kathryn, Li, Chenxin, Batra, Rishi, Stephenson, Christopher A., Harding, Paul, Sestak, Kylie, Foley, Ryan T., Greene, Harrison, Meisinger, Trevor, Cook, Jason R., Baxter, B. Timothy, Xiong, Wanfen, Impact of Notch3 Activation on Aortic Aneurysm Development in Marfan Syndrome, Journal of Immunology Research, 2022, 7538649, 11 pages, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/7538649
- Jespersen, K., Liu, Z., Li, C. et al. Enhanced Notch3 signaling contributes to pulmonary emphysema in a Murine Model of Marfan syndrome. Sci Rep 10, 10949 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67941-3
- American Association for Anatomy
- Human Anatomy & Physiology Society
- National Strength and Conditioning Association
- Assistant Professor of Anatomy - Dept of Basic Sciences, Touro University Nevada, Henderson, NV
- Assistant Professor and Human Anatomy Lab Coordinator - University of Saint Mary, Leavenworth, KS
