Phosphorylates serines and threonines, but also appears to possess tyrosine kinase activity (PubMed:20230784). Involved in DNA damage checkpoint control and for proper DNA damage repair (PubMed:20230784). In response to injury that includes DNA damage, NEK1 phosphorylates VDAC1 to limit mitochondrial cell death (PubMed:20230784). May be implicated in the control of meiosis (By similarity). Involved in cilium assembly (PubMed:21211617). {ECO:0000250|UniProtKB:P51954, ECO:0000269|PubMed:20230784, ECO:0000269|PubMed:21211617}. This is the function of Ensembl gene identifier ENSG00000137601 (NEK1, NIMA related kinase 1).