Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences
Contact Information
Email:Biosketch
Kirsten Porter-Stransky, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. She graduated from Sweet Briar College and earned her doctorate in biopsychology from the University of Michigan. After completing a short postdoctoral position at the Medical University of South Carolina, she joined Emory University School of Medicine as a postdoctoral fellow, where she received a Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the NIH. She has taught neuroscience classes at Oglethorpe University and the University of Michigan.
In her current role at WMed, Dr. Porter-Stransky serves as the basic science course director for the Behavioral Medicine course and the Advances and Perspectives in Medicine course and is the neuroscience and behavioral health thread director. She also serves as co-chairperson of the Women in Medicine and Science (WIMS) group at WMed. Her scholarship focuses on medical education, neuroscience, and behavior.
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Education and Training
- Postdoctoral Fellowship 2018, Human Genetics, Emory University
- PhD 2014, Biopsychology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
- Postdoctoral Fellowship 2014, Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina
- BS 2009, Psychology, Sweet Briar College
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Research
- Teaching and Curriculum Development
- Sleep Arousal Disorders
- Reward
- Norepinephrine
- Neuroanatomy of drug abuse
- Drug Abuse and Dependence
- Dopamine
- Animal Behavior or Ethology
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Publications
Porter-Stransky K.A., Davio A.C., Westerman P. Preparing for Patient Care: A Pre-clerkship Curricular Thread to Improve Learners’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Confidence Treating Patients at Risk for Suicide Medical Science Educator. 2024
Porter-Stransky K.A., Horneffer-Ginter K.J., Bauler L.D., Gibson K.M., Haymaker C.M., Rothney M. Improving departmental psychological safety through a medical school-wide initiative BMC Medical Education. 2024;24
Porter-Stransky K.A., Yang W., Vollbrecht P.J. Examining the relationship between attitudes toward science and socioeconomic status among middle-class, midwestern middle school students Frontiers in Education. 2024;9
Restini C.B.A., Weiler T., Porter-Stransky K.A., Vollbrecht P.J., Wisco J.J. Empowering the future: improving community wellbeing and health literacy through outreach and service-learning Frontiers in Public Health. 2024;12
Vollbrecht P.J., Cooper C.E.A., Magoline J.A., Chan T.M., Porter-Stransky K.A. Evaluation of content knowledge and instructor impacts in a middle school outreach program: lessons from Brain Explorers Frontiers in Education. 2024;9
Porter-Stransky K.A., Gibson K., VanDerKolk K., Edwards R.A., Graves L.E., Smith E., Dickinson B.L. How Medical Students Apply Their Biomedical Science Knowledge to Patient Care in the Family Medicine Clerkship Medical Science Educator. 2023;33:63-72.
Porter-Stransky K.A., Gallimore R.M. Medical Student Attitudes and Perceptions on the Relevance of Neuroscience to Psychiatry: a Mixed Methods Study Academic Psychiatry. 2022;46:128-132.
Porter-Stransky K.A., Vollbrecht P.J., Riddle D.R. A Case-Based Neuroanatomy Laboratory on the Neurobiology of Psychiatric Conditions for Second-Year Medical Students Medical Science Educator. 2021;31:15-16.
Butkovich L.M., Houser M.C., Chalermpalanupap T., Porter-Stransky K.A., Iannitelli A.F., Boles J.S., Lloyd G.M., Coomes A.S., Eidson L.N., De Sousa Rodrigues M.E., Oliver D.L., Kelly S.D., Chang J., Bengoa-Vergniory N., Wade-Martins R., Giasson B.I., Joers V., Weinshenker D., Tansey M.G. Transgenic mice expressing human a-synuclein in noradrenergic neurons develop locus ceruleus pathology and nonmotor features of parkinson's disease Journal of Neuroscience. 2020;40(39):7559-7576.
Dickinson B.L., Gibson K., VanDerKolk K., Greene J., Rosu C.A., Navedo D.D., Porter-Stransky K.A., Graves L.E. Erratum: Correction to: "It is this very knowledge that makes us doctors": an applied thematic analysis of how medical students perceive the relevance of biomedical science knowledge to clinical medicine (BMC medical education (2020) 20 1 (356)) BMC medical education. 2020;20:428.
Dickinson B.L., Gibson K., Vanderkolk K., Greene J., Rosu C.A., Navedo D.D., Porter-Stransky K.A., Graves L.E. "it is this very knowledge that makes us doctors": An applied thematic analysis of how medical students perceive the relevance of biomedical science knowledge to clinical medicine BMC Medical Education. 2020;20
Porter-Stransky K.A., Petko A.K., Karne S.L., Liles L.C., Urs N.M., Caron M.G., Paladini C.A., Weinshenker D. Loss of β-arrestin2 in D2 cells alters neuronal excitability in the nucleus accumbens and behavioral responses to psychostimulants and opioids Addiction Biology. 2020;25(6)
Vollbrecht P.J., Porter-Stransky K.A., Lackey-Cornelison W.L. Lessons learned while creating an effective emergency remote learning environment for students during the COVID-19 pandemic Advances in Physiology Education. 2020;44:722-725.
Manvich D.F., Petko A.K., Branco R.C., Foster S.L., Porter-Stransky K.A., Stout K.A., Newman A.H., Miller G.W., Paladini C.A., Weinshenker D. Selective D<inf>2</inf> and D<inf>3</inf> receptor antagonists oppositely modulate cocaine responses in mice via distinct postsynaptic mechanisms in nucleus accumbens Neuropsychopharmacology. 2019;44(8):1445-1455.
Porter-Stransky K.A., Centanni S.W., Karne S.L., Odil L.M., Fekir S., Wong J.C., Jerome C., Mitchell H.A., Escayg A., Pedersen N.P., Winder D.G., Mitrano D.A., Weinshenker D. Noradrenergic Transmission at Alpha1-Adrenergic Receptors in the Ventral Periaqueductal Gray Modulates Arousal Biological Psychiatry. 2019;85(3):237-247.
Al-Hasani R., Wong J.M.T., Mabrouk O.S., McCall J.G., Schmitz G.P., Porter-Stransky K.A., Aragona B.J., Kennedy R.T., Bruchas M.R. In vivo detection of optically-evoked opioid peptide release eLife. 2018;7
Christopher M., Myrick D., Barwick B., Engstrom A., Porter-Stransky K., Boss J., Weinshenker D., Levey A., Katz D. LSD1 protects against hippocampal and cortical neurodegeneration Nature Communications. 2017;8(1)
Porter-Stransky K., Weinshenker D. Arresting the Development of Addiction: The Role of β-Arrestin 2 in Drug Abuse Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2017;361(3):341-348.
Porter-Stransky K.A., Bentzley B.S., Aston-Jones G. Individual differences in orexin-I receptor modulation of motivation for the opioid remifentanil Addiction Biology. 2017;22(2):303-317.
Resendez S.L., Keyes P., Day J.J., Hambro C., Austin C.J., Maina F.K., Eidson L.N., Porter-Stransky K.A., Nevárez N., McLean J.W., Kuhnmuench M.A., Murphy A.Z., Mathews T.A., Aragona B.J. Dopamine and opioid systems interact within the nucleus accumbens to maintain monogamous pair bonds eLife. 2016;5(JULY)
Vander Weele C.M., Porter-Stransky K.A., Mabrouk O.S., Lovic V., Singer B.F., Kennedy R.T., Aragona B.J. Rapid dopamine transmission within the nucleus accumbens: Dramatic difference between morphine and oxycodone delivery European Journal of Neuroscience. 2014;40(7):3041-3054.
Porter-Stransky K.A., Seiler J.L., Day J.J., Aragona B.J. Development of behavioral preferences for the optimal choice following unexpected reward omission is mediated by a reduction of D2-like receptor tone in the nucleus accumbens European Journal of Neuroscience. 2013;38(4):2572-2588.
Slaney T.R., Mabrouk O.S., Porter-Stransky K.A., Aragona B.J., Kennedy R.T. Chemical gradients within brain extracellular space measured using low flow push-pull perfusion sampling in vivo ACS Chemical Neuroscience. 2013;4(2):321-329.
Porter-Stransky K.A., Wescott S.A., Hershman M., Badrinarayan A., Vander Weele C.M., Lovic V., Aragona B.J. Cocaine must enter the brain to evoke unconditioned dopamine release within the nucleus accumbens shell Neuroscience Letters. 2011;504(1):13-17.
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Presentations
- Community-Level Intervention to Drive Interest in STEM: An Active Learning Somatosensation Lesson Developed by Medical Students for Rural Middle Schoolers. Magoline JA, Vollbrecht PJ, Porter-Stransky KA, 41st Annual Kalamazoo Community Medical & Health Sciences Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 05/2023
- Developing a Culture of Psychological Safety: Microlearning, Infographics, and Champions. Porter-Stransky K, Haymaker C, Gibson K, Rothney M, Chan T, Horneffer-Ginter K, 2023 AAMC Group on Institutional Planning National Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 04/2023
- Brain Explorers: A Neuroscience-Based Outreach for Middle School Students. Shehadeh A, Wurster A, VanRiper K, Beck P, Porter-Stransky K, Vollbrecht P, 38th Annual Kalamazoo Community Medical and Health Sciences Virtual Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 04/2021