LAB MEMBERS

Catherine received her PhD from Stanford University in 1992 having done her dissertation research with Dr. Ron Kopito on interactions between membrane proteins and the underlying cytoskeleton. It wasn’t until her second post-doc that she ventured into retinal neuroscience research. From 1994 through 1996, she was a post-doctoral fellow in the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany. She worked jointly in the labs of Dr. Heinz Wässle (Dept. of Neuroanatomy) and Dr. Heinrich Betz (Dept. of Neurochemistry) studying photoreceptor ribbon synapses. In 1997, she moved to Australia and established a retina lab in the John Curtin School of Medical Research at Australian National University in Canberra. There, her research focused on calcium dynamics at retinal ribbon synapses. She returned to the USA in 2002, joining the faculty at Oregon Health & Science University. At OHSU, the Morgans lab continues to elucidate fundamental signaling pathways at photoreceptor and bipolar cell ribbon synapses, as well as the mechanisms underlying visual disorders caused by dysfunction at these synapses. Outside the lab she enjoys gardening, hiking, mushroom hunting, reusing and repurposing, and spending time with family and friends.