Mark Atkinson

Mark Atkinson was born and raised in southeastern Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan – Dearborn where he received a bachelor of Science in microbiology in 1983. Atkinson next received a Ph.D. from the Department of Pathology at the University of Florida in 1987.

Atkinson has served with the Haitian Foundation for Diabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases (Fondation Haitienne de Diabete et de Maladies Cardio-Vasculaires), overseen by Nancy Larco. Atkinson has traveled to Haiti to provide medical, dental, and educational assistance, including after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Through nPOD, Atkinson and other collaborators support research utilizing transplant-grade human tissues obtained from organ donors, including pancreas, spleen, whole blood, serum, lymph nodes, pancreatic lymph nodes, thymus, skin and bone marrow. The goal is to better understand the causes of type 1 diabetes and identify potential approaches to curing the disease. Atkinson has directed nPOD since its founding in 2007, it has and continued to support over 250 different investigators in some 200 research projects in 20 countries worldwide.

Atkinson has been teaching and conducting research in the Departments of Pathology and Pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine since 1988. He is currently the American Diabetes Association Eminent Scholar for Diabetes Research and the Jeffrey Keene Family Professor at the University of Florida, as well as the Director for the Diabetes Institute at that institution.

Mark Atkinson (born March 27, 1961) is a medical researcher best known for his contributions to research seeking to predict, prevent, and cure type 1 diabetes. He is the author of over 500 publications and is one of the world's most cited diabetes researchers.