Annette Kirchgessner, MA, Ph.D.

Dr. Annette Kirchgessner was raised in Queens, New York, and completed her undergraduate BA studies at the City University of New York (CUNY), Hunter College.

She obtained a Master of Arts degree from the CUNY Queens College in clinical neuroscience, and a Ph.D. in neurobiology from the State University of New York (SUNY), Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Kirchgessner completed her postdoctoral training in enteric neurobiology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (College of P & S) where she later became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology.  This is where she first taught a cadaver-based Human Gross Anatomy course to the medical students at Columbia University with some of the best anatomists, including Dr. Rick Ambron, who co-directed the clinical anatomy course for first-year medical and dental students.

While working at Columbia University and subsequently in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Dr. Kirchgessner’s research in enteric neurobiology was widely published and well-funded by the NIH and the American Diabetes Association. Her peer-reviewed publications have been cited over 1000 times in the scientific literature. These accomplishments led her to being recruited by GlaxoSmithKline in the United Kingdom to lead the Department of Gastroenterology in Drug Discovery. Dr. Kirchgessner also became the Director of Biology at NPS Pharmaceuticals in Toronto Canada.

During her time working in Drug Discovery, Dr. Kirchgessner realized that teaching made her the happiest. So, she left big pharma and started to teach anatomy again. Prior to joining AUC, Dr. Kirchgessner served as an Associate Professor and co-director of Anatomy and Embryology at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences St. Kitts.  Dr. Kirchgessner served as the director of General and Lower Extremity Anatomy at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine, in Harlem New York, and as the director of Anatomy at Seton Hall University, Nutley NJ, where she taught a diverse cohort of students, including Physician Assistants, Physical Therapists, and Athletic Trainers.

Annette Kirchgessner was appointed professor of Anatomy and Embryology of the Sint Maarten campus for the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC) effective August 21, 2023. In this role, Dr. Kirchgessner teaches anatomy through lectures and labs in several modules including Molecules to Medicine, Cardiovascular, and GIN. Dr. Kirchgessner’s research interests include the role of the enteric nervous system in inflammatory and irritable bowel syndrome.

She is also interested in anatomical anomalies of the human arterial system including the common carotid artery and its branches, the abdominal aorta and dorsalis pedis, which supplies the foot. Her passion is underwater photography.