Dr. Karen Kashmanian Oates is a Professor of Biochemistry and the Dean of Arts & Sciences
at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Oates received her B.S. in Biology from Rochester
Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The George Washington University.
She then served as a Visiting Research Fellow at the National Institutes of Health,
Oncology and Hematology division. Dr. Oates joined WPI from the National Science Foundation,
where she had served as a deputy director of the Division of Undergraduate Education
charged with supporting innovative programs to strengthen undergraduate education
and help revitalize American entrepreneurship and competitiveness. She began her academic
career at George Mason University, where, as associate dean for the new College of
Integrated and Interdisciplinary Studies, she helped create George Mason's New American
College environment. She later served as inaugural provost for the Harrisburg University
of Science and Technology, where she established the National Center for Science and
Civic Engagement and helped secure NSF funds for Science Education for New Civic Engagement
and Responsibilities, which works to improve undergraduate STEM education by connecting
learning to critical civic questions. Among the honors she has received are the Bruce
Albert's Award, presented by American Society for Cell Biology for excellence in science
education reform, and the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest civilian
honor presented by the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 2012 she was inducted
as a fellow into the prestigious American Association for the Advancement as a Science
Education fellow. As the inaugural holder of the Peterson Family Deanship of Arts
& Sciences, she oversees seven academic departments (Biology, Chemistry, Physics,
Mathematics, Computer Science, Humanities & Arts and Social Sciences & Policy Studies),
as well as several interdisciplinary programs including Environmental and Sustainability
studies, Robotics and Interactive Media and Game Development. - See more at: https://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/lectureships/2016-2017-lecturers#sthash.GHjR2PZt.dpuf
Dr. Karen Kashmanian Oates is a Professor of Biochemistry and the Dean of Arts & Sciences
at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Oates received her B.S. in Biology from Rochester
Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The George Washington University.
She then served as a Visiting Research Fellow at the National Institutes of Health,
Oncology and Hematology division. Dr. Oates joined WPI from the National Science Foundation,
where she had served as a deputy director of the Division of Undergraduate Education
charged with supporting innovative programs to strengthen undergraduate education
and help revitalize American entrepreneurship and competitiveness. She began her academic
career at George Mason University, where, as associate dean for the new College of
Integrated and Interdisciplinary Studies, she helped create George Mason's New American
College environment. She later served as inaugural provost for the Harrisburg University
of Science and Technology, where she established the National Center for Science and
Civic Engagement and helped secure NSF funds for Science Education for New Civic Engagement
and Responsibilities, which works to improve undergraduate STEM education by connecting
learning to critical civic questions. Among the honors she has received are the Bruce
Albert's Award, presented by American Society for Cell Biology for excellence in science
education reform, and the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest civilian
honor presented by the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 2012 she was inducted
as a fellow into the prestigious American Association for the Advancement as a Science
Education fellow. As the inaugural holder of the Peterson Family Deanship of Arts
& Sciences, she oversees seven academic departments (Biology, Chemistry, Physics,
Mathematics, Computer Science, Humanities & Arts and Social Sciences & Policy Studies),
as well as several interdisciplinary programs including Environmental and Sustainability
studies, Robotics and Interactive Media and Game Development. - See more at: https://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/lectureships/2016-2017-lecturers#sthash.GHjR2PZt.dpuf
Abstract
We now know that the adult brain is incredibly flexible or “plastic.” Under the right
conditions it can readily adapt, reorganize, and re-map its structure and function.
My investigations of this exciting phenomenon have not only guided my path from undergraduate
research to postdoctoral fellowship, but have helped me to become more adaptable myself.
Join me as I share what I have learned from the brain – and what you can too!
Biography
Dr. Kendra Cherry-Allen is a Washington State native and attended the University of
Washington in Seattle where she graduated from the honors program with a B.S. in biology/physiology.
She then earned her doctorate of physical therapy (DPT) and her PhD in Movement Science
from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow
in the Human Brain Physiology and Stimulation Laboratory in the Department of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University. Her research investigates
the mechanisms that underlie motor learning and she is interested in developing interventions
that promote motor learning in people recovering from neurological injury.
Dr. Karen Kashmanian Oates is a Professor of Biochemistry and the Dean of Arts & Sciences
at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Oates received her B.S. in Biology from Rochester
Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The George Washington University.
She then served as a Visiting Research Fellow at the National Institutes of Health,
Oncology and Hematology division. Dr. Oates joined WPI from the National Science Foundation,
where she had served as a deputy director of the Division of Undergraduate Education
charged with supporting innovative programs to strengthen undergraduate education
and help revitalize American entrepreneurship and competitiveness. She began her academic
career at George Mason University, where, as associate dean for the new College of
Integrated and Interdisciplinary Studies, she helped create George Mason's New American
College environment. She later served as inaugural provost for the Harrisburg University
of Science and Technology, where she established the National Center for Science and
Civic Engagement and helped secure NSF funds for Science Education for New Civic Engagement
and Responsibilities, which works to improve undergraduate STEM education by connecting
learning to critical civic questions. Among the honors she has received are the Bruce
Albert's Award, presented by American Society for Cell Biology for excellence in science
education reform, and the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest civilian
honor presented by the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 2012 she was inducted
as a fellow into the prestigious American Association for the Advancement as a Science
Education fellow. As the inaugural holder of the Peterson Family Deanship of Arts
& Sciences, she oversees seven academic departments (Biology, Chemistry, Physics,
Mathematics, Computer Science, Humanities & Arts and Social Sciences & Policy Studies),
as well as several interdisciplinary programs including Environmental and Sustainability
studies, Robotics and Interactive Media and Game Development. - See more at: https://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/lectureships/2016-2017-lecturers#sthash.GHjR2PZt.dpuf
