Dr. Wilkin received his undergraduate degree in Mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin and attended medical school at Ohio State University. He went on to complete his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals. He received fellowship training in Infectious Diseases at Columbia University and was supported by an Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health. While at Columbia, he completed a Master's of Public Health with a concentration in Patient-Oriented Research.

He was invited to join the faculty of Weill Medical College of Cornell University in 2002. He received a K23 Grant (Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award) from the National Institutes of Health to study human papillomavirus infection and anal dysplasia in HIV-positive and HIV-negative men. His other research activities include participating in protocol teams in the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. He serves as site principal investigator for several industry-sponsored trials conducted at the Cornell Clinical Trials Unit. He also conducts educational training activities through the AIDS Education and Training Center.