Kaitlin Morrison

Kaitlin Morrison, PhD serves as Assistant Professor of Medicine and Executive Director of UNC Lineberger Clinical Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology. She leads the clinical research infrastructure for the LCCC (Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center) with responsibility for strategic planning, process optimization, and alignment of research goals with UNC Healthcare system objectives.

Her educational background includes undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a PhD from Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.

Dr. Morrison's research focuses on clinical translation of basic discoveries into early phase clinical trials, with particular expertise in investigational new drugs, FDA regulatory strategy, clinical protocol development, and patient education. Her work emphasizes creating operationally feasible, data-driven clinical trials that prioritize patient experience. Her publication record spans metabolic research, oncology therapeutics, and clinical trial methodology, with recent work examining GDF15's role in adipose tissue metabolism and anxiety.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on metabolic disorders (particularly obesity and adipose tissue biology), clinical trial methodology, and oncology therapeutics. Her work bridges basic science discoveries with clinical applications, with increasing focus on biomarker development and patient-centered trial design since 2020.

Dr. Morrison oversees the office responsible for LCCC's clinical development program, which manages investigator-initiated trials using investigational drugs from pharmaceutical partners and UNC-developed products. Her leadership role involves recruitment and retention of research staff while ensuring alignment between LCCC and UNC Healthcare system goals.

She leads research infrastructure optimization efforts within UNC Lineberger's clinical research operations, focusing on improving trial feasibility and patient accessibility to experimental therapies.