Pediatrics at CU School of Medicine is among the best in the nation! World-class pediatric residency program and research facilities. Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Children's Hospital Colorado

Primary research interest: Cellular and molecular mechanisms of brain development and their perturbation in neuro-developmental disorders.

During nervous system development neurons generate long processes (axons) that grow out to synapse with target cells and form neuronal networks. During outgrowth the axon is tipped with an amoeboid terminal enlargement, the growth cone. Growth cones play a crucial role in growth regulation, path finding, target cell recognition, and regeneration of the axon. Their roles in normal development and disease are at the center of the laboratory’s interests. Current studies are focused on cellular adhesive mechanisms of the growth cone.  Of particular interest is the role of amyloid precursor protein (APP) in growth cone function and in the pathogenesis of cognitive disability.

C.J. Herrick Award in Comparative Neurology
I.T. Hirschl Career Scientist Award, 1977
Senator Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Awards (NIH), 1984 and 1991
R. Caputto Lectureship and Gold Medal, 2004, Argentine Society for Neurochemistry

Publications in PubMed 

Books:

Widnell, CC, Pfenninger KH, (1990) Essential Cell Biology, Williams & Wilkins (Baltimore, Maryland, USA)

Pfenninger, KH, Shubik, VR (2001) The Origins of Creativity, Oxford University Press (Oxford, UK)