Professional Background
Kenneth E. McCarson, Ph.D. is a Professor with Tenure in the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics at the University of Kansas Medical Center and a Scientist in the Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, where he also serves as Director of the PreClinical Models Core and Rodent Behavior Facility.
Dr. McCarson received a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (B.Ch.E.) degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, followed by a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia. He then served as a research associate in Neurobiology at the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, and subsequently joined the KUMC faculty in 1995.
Dr. McCarson’s medical and graduate educational responsibilities include topics such as Autonomic, Autacoid, Diabetes, and GI pharmacology, Neuroscience (Somatic sensation and pain), and quantification of receptor function and organismal responsiveness. He is the Director of the departmental Essentials of Pharmacology and Graduate Student Seminar courses, and has received the KUMC Ruth Bohan Teaching Professorship, KUMC Student Voice M2 Top Professor Award, and KU Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
Dr. McCarson's research has generated over 73 peer-reviewed papers and numerous reviews and book chapters. His work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and a variety of private foundations. He has served as a chartered member of the NIH NIDA-K Training and Career Development Review Committee and routinely serves as a reviewer for NIH Training, research, and center grant review panels.
- BChE, Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta, GA
- PhD, Pharmacology (Major Advisor: Barry D. Goldstein, Ph.D.), Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia, Augusta, GA
- Post Doctoral Fellowship, Neurobiology (James E. Krause, Ph.D., Major Advisor), Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
