Bio:

While earning a B.S. degree in Bioengineering from the University of Washington, Kristen worked in a lab that develops fast, affordable diagnostic devices for the developing world. Kristen applied her experience with microfluidic devices to study cancer cells in culture while working towards a Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. However, it was neuroscience that truly captured her interest during grad school. Kristen spent 3+ years at the Center for Integrative Brain Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, studying the brain’s response to implanted devices, including deep brain stimulators, shunts, and neuroprosthetics. At the Institute, she is part of the Ephys Core team, where she uses whole cell patch clamp to probe the intrinsic electrophysiological properties of neurons in slices. Also, Kristen helped pilot the addition of an extraction protocol that allows the team to assay the cell’s contents for transcriptomic analysis.