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Genevieve Konopka, Ph.D.

Genevieve Konopka, Ph.D.

Professor

Endowed Title
Jon Heighten Scholar in Autism Research; Townsend Distinguished Chair in Research on Autism Spectrum Disorders
School
Medical School
Department
Neuroscience
Graduate Programs
Neuroscience
  • Biography

    Dr. Konopka is a Professor of Neuroscience and the Jon Heighten Scholar in Autism Research and Townsend Distinguished Chair in Research on Autism Spectrum Disorders at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Konopka received dual bachelor of science degrees in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biology from MIT and completed her Ph.D. in Neurobiology at Harvard University. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including a NARSAD Young Investigator Award, an NIH Pathway to Independence Award, a Basil O’Connor Scholar Award from the March of Dimes, a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, and an Understanding Human Cognition Scholar Award from the James S. McDonnell Foundation.

    The research in the Konopka lab focuses on understanding the molecular pathways important for human brain evolution that are also at risk in cognitive disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer disease. Her lab uses a combination of human neurons, animal models, and primate comparative genomics to uncover human-specific, disease-relevant patterns of gene expression. Dr. Konopka is particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying language and part of her research has focused on the FOXP family of transcription factors. Recent work in her lab integrates gene expression with signatures of neuronal activity in the human brain. The Konopka lab is also part of the international Human Cell Atlas effort to map gene expression in every cell of the human body.

  • Education
    Undergraduate
    Massachusetts Institute of Tec (1997), Biology
    Graduate School
    Harvard University (2004)
  • Research Interest
    • Autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease
    • Brain evolution
    • Neurodevelopmental disorders
    • Neurogenetics
  • Publications

    Star Featured Publications

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  • Books

    Featured 

    Evolution and Development of Language. In Advances in Evolutionary Developmental Biology

    Miller, D.J., and Konopka, G. (2013). Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley & Sons, Inc

    FOXP2: linking language and autism. In The Autisms: Molecules to Model Systems

    Konopka, G. (2013). New York, NY, Oxford University Press

  • Honors & Awards
    • Understanding Human Cognition Scholar Award
      The James S. McDonnell Foundation (2016)
    • Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award
      March of Dimes (2013)
    • Kavli Fellow
      (2013)
    • Young Investigator Award
      International Society for Autism Research (2013)
    • NIH Pathway to Independence Award
      NIMH (2010)
    • Young Investigator Award
      National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) (2008)
    • A. P. Giannini Foundation Medical Research Fellowship
      (2007)
    • NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship
      (2005)
  • Professional Associations/Affiliations
    • International Society for Autism Research (2012)
    • Society for Neuroscience (1997)
    • UCSD/Salk Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) (2011)