Dr. Kristen Harris
Office: NMS 5.312
phone: (512) 232-3968
email:
Dr. Harris received a B.S. (Summa cum Laude) from Moorhead State University (now Minnesota State University) , an M.S. in Neurobiology from the University of Illinois in 1979 and a Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and Kent State University in 1982. Before coming to the University of Texas, she has had academic appointments at Harvard Medical School, Boston University, and the Medical College of Georgia. She is the recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumna Award in 1987 and the Distinguished Alumna Award in 2003 (both from Minnesota State University), and the Javits Merit Award in 2005.
Research Interests
Our goal is to elucidate structural components involved in the cell biology of learning and memory. We study long-term potentiation (LTP) and its complement, long-term depression (LTD), in the developing and mature hippocampus because these phenomena have many of the physiological characteristics that are expected for learning and memory in the brain. Our working hypothesis is synaptic plasticity that serves to modify synapses in the creation of new memories competes with homeostatic mechanisms that serve to prevent saturation of synaptic strength and neuropathology. Our focus has been on dendritic spines because they are the major postsynaptic targets of excitatory axons throughout the brain and because their structure and composition serve both synaptic plasticity and stabilizing homeostatic mechanisms.
Please visit our website for updated information about ongoing projects, publications, and positions in the laboratory.