Millen Lab

The Millen Lab has long been interested in the genetic and developmental basis of structural birth defects of the brain both in humans and animal models. We have a specific interest in malformations of the cerebellum, a brain structure that lies between the brainstem and the cerebrum and plays important roles in sensory perception, motor output, balance and posture in addition to cognition and emotion. The relative anatomic simplicity of the cerebellum makes this important brain structure an ideal system to study neural development. Further, the mechanisms that drive cerebellar development are shared by more complex regions of the brain, including the cerebral cortex.

Featured Research

Mapping Human Cerebellar Development

Seattle Children’s Drs. Kathleen Millen and Kimberly Aldinger created a first-ever molecular atlas of cell types and genes expressed during human cerebellum development.

Partnership Opportunities

Medulloblastoma — Studies With Stem Cells

Using stem cell lines to gain insight into overproliferation leading to brain tumors and malformations – Kathleen J. Millen

Fibrosis – Models for Regenerative Medicine

Studying Acomys cahirinus rodents and ES cell lines to understand fibrosis versus tissue regeneration in wound healing – Kathleen J. Millen

Epilepsy – Drug Screening

Using mouse models to screen potential drugs that could treat the most common forms of epilepsy and seizures – Kathleen J. Millen

Meet Our Team

Kathleen J Millen, PhD

Kathleen J Millen, PhD

Kathleen Millen is a principal investigator at the Norcliffe Foundation Center for Integrative Brain Research at Seattle Children's Research Institute and a professor of pediatrics, Division of Genetics, at the University of Washington. She received her bachelor of science degree at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, having been introduced to molecular and developmental biology by her undergraduate research mentors, Drs. David Bazett-Jones and James McGhee. She received her PhD in medical genetics at the University of Toronto under the mentorship of Alexandra Joyner. She then conducted postdoctoral work at Rockefeller University in New York City with Dr. Mary E. Hatten. She was appointed assistant, then associate professor at the University of Chicago from 2001 to 2010 in the Departments of Human Genetics and Neurology. She joined Seattle Children's Research Institute's Norcliffe Foundation Center for Integrative Brain Research and the University of Washington Department of Pediatrics in July 2010.

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Contact Us

Kathleen J Millen, PhD

For questions or inquiries,
email: [email protected]
telephone: 206-884-3225
fax: 206-884-1210

Physical Address

Norcliffe Foundation Center for Integrative Brain Research
1900 Ninth Ave.
Seattle, WA 98101