He earned his B.S. in Zoology (Honors) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his MD and PhD (Biophysics) at Washington University in St. Louis. He was then awarded a Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellowship to study integrin activation with Dr. Eric J. Brown, a leader in the field. Following his Pathology Residency training at Washington University, Dr. Kucik moved to UAB, where his research has long focused on the function of integrins in health and disease, including their role in cancer metastasis. More recently, a major focus of the Kucik laboratory has been to understand the mechanisms of adverse effects of therapeutic radiation and their consequences for cardiovascular disease.