Dr. Kara Marshall, assistant professor of at Baylor College of Medicine and faculty member at the at Texas Children’s Hospital, has been named the newest McNair Scholar.
program, launched by and managed by the McNair Medical Institute, identifies and recruits the best and brightest physician-scientists in neuroscience, with a focus on neuromodulation.
“I am honored and grateful for this generous support from the McNair Scholars program. It was critical for enabling me to start my laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine and in supporting my work with the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital,” Marshall said.
Marshall joined Baylor in April to establish her lab focused on understanding how the brain and nervous system detect mechanical forces in the body. Although we often take it for granted, mechanical force-sensing plays a critical role in several processes, such as blood pressure control, feeding, digestion and urination. She and her team aim to uncover how your gastrointestinal tract tells your brain that you are full, what causes internal organ pain and how these internal cues affect behavior and physiology.
