Kelly J. Huffman

Dr. Kelly J. Huffman has extensive training in neuroanatomical methodology, molecular biology and electrophysiology, and has published many studies using these methods in a variety of mammalian systems. In her early work, Dr. Huffman studied the evolution and development of the neocortex using multi-unit electrophysiological and anatomical methods in the Krubitzer laboratory at UC Davis. During her post-doctoral fellowships at UCSF with John Rubenstein and at UCI with Karina Cramer, she trained in molecular biology using murine, including transgenic mice, and chick developmental systems. Dr. Huffman continued to study the molecular and activity-dependent mechanisms that guide neocortical developmental in mice in her own laboratory at UCR. Specifically, her early years at UCR were focused on how gene expression regulates the development of intraneocortical connections in mammalian systems and how experience (changes in sensory input) can alter this development. More recently, Dr. Huffman shifted the direction of her research towards understanding how exposure to teratogens during development can alter the circuitry and organization in cortex, ultimately impacting behavior. The main focus of the research is a mouse model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. After being awarded an NIH grant for this research, she has had several papers on the topic with two of them getting a significant amount of media coverage. Her most recent discovery, that prenatal exposure to alcohol can have transgenerational, or heritable effects, has been rated by Alimetrics in the top 5% of all research papers.