- HIV-1
- Substance Use Disorders (Cocaine, Opioids)
- Neurocognition
- Brain Development
- Dendritic Spines
Kristen McLaurin, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Kristen A. McLaurin is a behavioral neuroscientist with expertise in HIV-1 and substance use disorders, as well as extensive training in in vivo preclinical studies, preclinical neurocognitive assessments, measures of synaptic function, and advanced analytic techniques.
Dr. McLaurin completed her graduate work under the tutelage of Dr. Charles Mactutus at the University of South Carolina. Her PhD, awarded in 2020, focused on establishing the progression of neurocognitive impairments associated with HIV-1 throughout the functional lifespan; work which led to the critical evaluation of S-Equol as a novel therapeutic for HIV-1 associated neurocognitive disorders. As a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Rosemarie Booze's laboratory at the University of South Carolina, Dr. McLaurin expanded her expertise to include substance use disorders. As a postdoctoral fellow, Dr. McLaurin was awarded a NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.
Dr. McLaurin's program of research focuses on the utilization of longitudinal experimental designs to establish the neural mechanisms underlying neurocognitive impairments resulting from opioid use disorder and/or comorbid HIV-1. Establishing the neural mechanisms underlying these disorders affords an opportunity to develop and assess novel therapeutic treatments.
Expertise
Education
- PhD, Experimental Psychology: Behavioral Neuroscience, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
- Certificate in Applied Statistics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
- MA Experimental Psychology: Behavioral Neuroscience, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
- BA Psychology, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
We wish to remember and honor those who inhabited this Commonwealth before the arrival of the Europeans. Briefly occupying these lands were the Osage, Wyndott tribe, and Miami peoples. The Adena and Hopewell peoples, who are recognized by the naming of the time period in which they resided here, were here more permanently. Some of their mounds remain in the Lexington area, including at UK’s Adena Park.
In more recent years, the Cherokee occupied southeast Kentucky, the Yuchi southwest Kentucky, the Chickasaw extreme western Kentucky and the Shawnee central Kentucky including what is now the city of Lexington. The Shawnee left when colonization pushed through the Appalachian Mountains. Lower Shawnee Town ceremonial grounds are still visible in Greenup County.
We honor the first inhabitants who were here, respect their culture, and acknowledge the presence of their descendants who are here today in all walks of life including fellow pharmacists and healthcare professionals.