Kate Flickinger, PhD

Research Education Director

Dr. Kate Flickinger is an exercise physiologist, and TRISH Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. She graduated from Allegheny College in 2012, with a degree in Biology and began working in the Department of Emergency Medicine as her first job upon graduation. She worked her way through school earning a master's degree, and successfully completing her PhD in exercise physiology in August of 2022.

Dr. Flickinger is continuing her postdoctoral training as the principal physiologist managing the department's Applied Physiology Lab (APL). Her postdoctoral work is studying metabolic measurement, manipulation and countermeasure strategies and their utility for spaceflight and in clinical populations. Her research experience also includes; temperature manipulation and the use of other metabolic parameters as potential therapeutic tools; human performance under stress and fatigue; and examining the influence of physical treatments on the recovery and the associations between rehabilitative interventions and outcomes important to patients, and the development of more individualized care for patients with critical illness.

Due to taking what is often considered a “nontraditional” path in academia, Dr. Flickinger is passionate about sharing resources, creating opportunities, and building networks for others in the research community. Her goal is to curate educational resources to share with the community and develop a research education curriculum for space medicine researchers.