Kirsten Carlson, PhD
Associate Director
Research Programs
Dr. Kirsten Carlson joined the Foundation in February 2008. She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at the State University of New York College at Geneseo and went on to earn her PhD in Neuroscience from Rutgers University in the laboratory of Dr. George C. Wagner. Dr. Carlson’s dissertation focused on exploring the relationship between stress and neurodegeneration in addition to looking at non-pharmacological treatments, primarily exercise and dietary manipulation, in mouse models of Parkinson’s disease. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh working in Dr. Michael J. Zigmond’s laboratory within the Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, where she expanded her research to include behavioral and neurological correlates of motor learning, including trophic factor production and signaling, and the effects of Levodopa in a mouse model of normal aging.
