Kimberly Morrissey, PhD 

ASERT Fellow 

University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center 

Molecular Genetics and Microbiology Dept.  

kmorrissey@salud.unm.edu 

Education 

• ASERT Postdoctoral Fellow, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 2023 - Present 
• PhD, Biology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2023   
• BS, Biology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2018 
• BA, Chemistry, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2018 

Teaching 

Teaching Mentor: 

Courses Taught: 

BIOL 456/556 Immunology. Guest lecture: Atypical T cells, Spring 2022 

BIOL 406 Classic Letters in Immunology. Co-taught graduate and undergraduate, Fall 2020 

Research 

Current Research: (One sentence synopsis): T cell responses related to their mobility and metabolism in the context of infection.  

Research Mentors: 

• Judy Cannon PhD, Associate Professor and Education Chief; Director, Center for Infectious Disease and Immunity Signature Program; Depts of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Pathology, Autophagy, Inflammation, and Metabolism Center of Biomedical Research Excellence. University of New Mexico School of Medicine 
• Bryce Chackerian PhD, Professor and Vice Chair in the Molecular Genetics and Microbiology Dept. University of New Mexico School of Medicine. 

Publications 

5. Morrissey, K.A., Stammnitz, M.R., Murchison, E. and Miller, R.D., 2023. Comparative genomics of the T cell receptor μ locus in marsupials and monotremes. Immunogenetics, pp.1-9. 

4. Morrissey, K.A., Sampson, J.M., Rivera, M., Bu, L., Hansen, V.L., Gemmell, N.J., Gardner, M.G., Bertozzi, T. and Miller, R.D., 2022. Comparison of Reptilian Genomes Reveals Deletions Associated with the Natural Loss of γδ T Cells in Squamates. Journal of Immunology 208: 1960-1967 (Baltimore, Md.: 1950).

3. Schraven, A.L., Hansen, V.L., Morrissey, K.A., Stannard, H.J., Ong, O.T., Douek, D.C., Miller, R.D. and Old, J.M., 2021. Single-cell transcriptome analysis of the B-cell repertoire reveals the usage of immunoglobulins in the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica). Developmental & Comparative Immunology, 123, p.104141. 

2. Morrissey, K.A., Wegrecki, M., Praveena, T., Hansen, V.L., Bu, L., Sivaraman, K.K., Darko, S., Douek, D.C., Rossjohn, J., Miller, R.D. and Le Nours, J., 2021. The molecular assembly of the marsupial γμ T cell receptor defines a third T cell lineage. Science, 371(6536), pp.1383-1388.

1.  Fehrenkamp, B.D., Morrissey, K.A. and Miller, R.D., 2019. Opossum milk IgG is from maternal circulation and timing of transfer correlates with neonatal immune development. Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 31(7), pp.1246-1251.