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Judith Head, Ph.D.

Judith Head, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Endowed Title
Distinguished Teaching Professor
School
Medical School
Department
Cell Biology
  • Biography

    Dr. Head received her PhD from the Department of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern in 1975. Her work under Dr. Rupert Billingham and Dr. Alan Beer focused on issues related to the acceptance of the fetal-placental unit as a "transplant" by the mother. After joining the faculty of that department in 1977, she engaged in numerous studies relating to the protection transplants are afforded in various sites, including the pregnant uterus, the anterior chamber of the eye, the testis, and the brain. Subsequently, an extensive series of in vitro studies on the trophoblast from murine placentas were conducted, addressing major histocompatibility antigen expression and susceptibility of these crucial placental cells to maternal lymphocytes. Dr. Head moved to the Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences in 1988 and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1999. The major studies related to pregnancy immunology, with rodent models, have been on the natural killer (NK) cells that accumulate in the uterus of both rodents and humans during early pregnancy, including characterization of the cells, mapping their differentiation, and analyzing potential factors influencing their activation in this unique environment. Numerous studies on human placenta and fetal membranes have also been carried out, most recently focused on the biology of the amnion and various aspects potentially related to the phenomenon of membrane rupture. In 2005, she retired from her research work and now focuses on the teaching of medical students. She currently teaches histology and cell biology to first- and second-year students in the Microanatomy course, Organisms and Host course, and various integrated modules.  

  • Education
    Undergraduate
    University of Texas-Austin (1970), Microbiology
    Graduate School
    Univ of Tx Southwestern Med Ct (1975), Cell Biology
  • Research Interest
    • Biology of the human amnion
    • Natural killer cells in the uterus
  • Honors & Awards
    • Regents Outstanding Teaching Award
      University of Texas Board of Regents, awarded for excellence in medical student teaching (2016)
    • Outstanding Teaching Award
      For Small Group Teaching, MSI students (2008)
    • Member, NIH study section
      Member of "Human Embryology and Development-1, 1996-2000 (1996)
    • Career Development Award
      To work in another lab, learning molecular biology techniques, from the National Science Foundation (1991)
    • President
      American Association for Reproductive Immunology, 1991-93 (1991)
    • Ida M. Green Fellowship
      To support graduate studies, from the American Association of University Women (1973)
  • Professional Associations/Affiliations
    • Association for the Advancement of Science
    • International Association of Medical Science Educators
    • Society for Gynecologic Investigation
    • Society of the Study of Reproduction