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Theresa Currier Thomas, PhD |
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Brief Bio
Dr. Currier Thomas is the Director of the Translational Neurotrauma and Neurochemistry Laboratory at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She was born in Kentucky and received her BS in Agricultural Biotechnology in 1999 from the University of Kentucky. She earned her Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology in 2008 and continued as a postdoctoral fellow at the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center at the University of Kentucky.
Dr. Currier Thomas’s primary research focuses on traumatic brain injury (TBI). She studies structural, functional, and molecular processes, with synaptogenesis as a keystone, which guides circuit reorganization over time and contributes to chronic deficits/symptoms after TBI. She tests pharmacological and rehabilitative strategies to mitigate these chronic deficits. She is also actively investigating the contribution of endocrine (hormone) deficiencies after TBI to understand causes and propose treatments for post-traumatic neurological deficits. Dr. Currier Thomas has demonstrated an early commitment to including females in TBI research publishing on sex differences in neurotransmission and the sequelae of TBI pathophysiology. These studies collaborate with researchers from the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, Phoenix, VA Healthcare System, Arizona State University, and Midwestern University. She also has a remarkable history of creating a community of diversity and inclusion through mentorship, networking, professional development, and education in her lab, department, university, Phoenix Valley, and National Neurotrauma Society engagement. She is the Co-Chair of the Department of Child Health’s Faculty Mentor-Mentee Program (inaugural year) and serves on the Executive Committee for Women in Medicine and Science (2018). She also started and Chairs the National Neurotrauma Society’s Mentor-Mentee Program (est. 2021), with 70 matched mentees encompassing several countries.
Learn More: Researchgate; Google Scholar; LinkedIn; Twitter; NCBI Bibliography.