Search Biology:
Pomona College:
Pomona College
Department of Biology
Karen D. Parfitt
Associate Professor of Biology
Contact Information
R. C. Seaver Biology Building, Room 211
175 W Sixth Street
Claremont, CA 91711
909-621-8604
karen.parfitt@pomona.edu
Parfitt Lab Website
Education
Ph.D. University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Pharmacology
B.S. Cornell University, Biological Sciences
Professional Experience
Assistant and Associate Professor of Biology, Pomona College
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University
Courses
Biology 41C: Introduction to Cell Chemistry & Cell Biology
Biology 178: Neurobiology
Neuroscience 103: Neuropharmacology
Neuroscience 190: Senior Seminar in Neuroscience
Research Interests
Karen Parfitt studies synaptic transmission, specifically, how chemical neurotransmitters are released from presynaptic neurons and how they are detected by postsynaptic cells. She is also interested in how the strength of synaptic transmission is changed in response to experience - in other words, the molecular basis of learning and memory.
Selected Publications
Bisel, B.E.*, K.M. Henkins*, and K.D. Parfitt, 2007. The Alzheimer amyloid β-peptide A-β25-35 blocks adenylate cyclase-mediated forms of hippocampal long term potentiation (LTP). Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1097: 58-63. [abstract]
Johnson, K.G., A.P. Tenney, A. Ghose, A. Duckworth, M. Higashi, K. Parfitt, O. Marcu, T. Heslip, J. Marsh, and T. Schwarz. 2006. The HSPGs Syndecan and Dallylike bind the receptor phosphatase LAR and exert opposing effects on synapse growth. Neuron 49: 517-531. [abstract]
Reis, G.F.*, M.B. Lee*, A.S. Huang*, and K.D. Parfitt. 2005. Adenylate cyclase-mediated forms of synaptic potentiation in hippocampal area CA1 are reduced with aging. J. Neurophysiol. 93: 3381-3389. [abstract | full text | pdf]
DiAntonio, A., K.D. Parfitt, and T.L. Schwarz. 1993. Synaptic transmission persists in synaptotagmin mutants in Drosophila. Cell 73: 1281-1290. [abstract]
*Undergraduate co-author