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ULMMAGAZINE SPRING 2017
COLLEGE OF HEALTH & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
photos by Emerald McIntyre BY GEORGIANN POTTS
UNLOCKING THE
BRAIN’S SECRETS WWW.ULM.EDU
DR. Karen Briski has always had a healthy curiosity about many things. That curiosity has not only led her on a career path to the highest levels of scientific research, but has also made for a rich and interesting life. Early on, Briski wanted to understand the measurable principles that govern the physical world. Later she became very curious about how those principles impacted survival --- specifically how living organisms could overcome internal and external challenges by applying those principles.
EARLY EDUCATION
Briski was born in Phillipsburg, Warren County, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Oxford. As a young girl she wasn’t sure exactly what specific profession she would adopt, but her love of analysis was certain to influence her ultimate decision. She very much wanted a career that would involve the application of analytical methods. “I cannot remember a time when I did not envision a career that did not involve opportunities to investigate and devise solutions to
problems that impair human and animal health and well-being,” she explains. With that general goal in mind, Briski earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. She then earned the Master of Science and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in anatomy. Her doctoral research focused on neuroendocrine regulation of brainpituitary gland communication involved in the control of reproductive hormone secretion. Her early interest in brain
