WWAMI Spokane Director
Kenneth P. Roberts, Ph.D.
- Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University, Division of Reproductive Biology
- PhD, Biochemistry, Washington State University
- BS, Chemistry/Biology, Western Washington University
Ken Roberts comes to WSU Spokane from the University of Minnesota, where he was an associate professor in the departments of Urologic Surgery and Integrative Biology and Physiology.
Throughout his fifteen-year career at the University of Minnesota Medical School, he served in teaching, research, and administration positions, including as director of the Program in Human Anatomy Education and director of basic research at the Department of Urologic Surgery.
In 2004, the Minnesota Medical Foundation honored him with the Outstanding Medical School Teacher Award in Basic Science.
Dr. Roberts’ primary research interest is in sperm maturation, function and fertilization with application to male infertility and contraception. His recent research studies have been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wyeth Research. Dr. Roberts and other research-intensive faculty being hired to the WWAMI Spokane program are expected to significantly enhance the biomedical research conducted at WSU Spokane.
Dr. Roberts holds a doctorate in biochemistry from WSU. He serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Andrology and is a member of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, the American Society of Andrology, the Society for Basic Urologic Research and the Academy of Medical Educators, among others.
Selected Publications
1. Vadnais ML and Roberts KP. 2010 Seminal Plasma Proteins Inhibit In vitro and Cooling Induced Capacitation in Boar Sperm. Reproduction, Fertility and Development 22(6):893-900
2. Whiteside JL, Ensrud-Bowlin KM, Wang G, Watschke BP and Roberts KP. 2008 Lead Placement and Associated Nerve Distribution of an Implantable Periurethral Electrostimulator. International Urogynecology Journal and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction 20:325-329, 2009
3. Roberts KP, Ensrud-Bowlin KM, Piehl LB, Parent KR, Bernhardt ML and Hamilton DW. 2008 Association of the Protein D and Protein E Forms of Rat CRISP1 with Epididymal Sperm. Biology of Reproduction 79:1046-1053
4. Vadnais ML, Foster DN and Roberts KP. 2008 Molecular Cloning and Expression of the CRISP Family of Proteins in the Boar. Biology of Reproduction 79:1129-1134
5. Vadnais ML and Roberts KP, 2007 Effects of Seminal Plasma on Cooling-induced Capacitative Changes in Boar Sperm. Journal of Andrology 28:416-422
