Ellen Lumpkin is an American
neuroscientist
A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, Biological neural network, n ...
and professor of cell and developmental biology and neurobiology at the
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute
The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (HWNI) at the University of California, Berkeley was created in 1997, through a bequest from eight-time Wimbledon champion Helen Wills Moody, an alumna of UC Berkeley.
History
The Berkeley Neuroscience Cen ...
at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
.
She is also co-director of the MBL Advanced Training Course in Neurobiology, and adjunct associate professor of physiology and cellular biophysics and co-director of the Thompson Family Foundation Initiative in CIPN and Sensory Neuroscience at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
.
Lumpkin's group studies genes, cells and signals that mediate the sensation of touch.
Lumpkin is most interested in the
somatosensory system
In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch ( haptic perception), as well as temperature ( thermoception), body position ( proprioception), and pain. I ...
and how it gives feedback to the brain on sensations such as pain or touch. She is known for her significant contributions in somatosensory system research.
Early life and education
Lumpkin was born in rural East Texas in an agriculturally-based town, where she spent her childhood years driving tractors and raising cows and pigs. In high school, she joined
Future Farmers of America
National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at ...
, which fully funded her college education given that she majored in agriculture and went to a local state university. Lumpkin earned a B.S. in Animal Science at
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...
in
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock ( )
is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the nort ...
.
During her undergraduate years, Lumpkin studied the effects of stress on the health of animals, more specifically, how certain social or shipping conditions can lead to weight loss of pigs by the stress hormone
cortisol
Cortisol is a steroid hormone, in the glucocorticoid class of hormones. When used as a medication, it is known as hydrocortisone.
It is produced in many animals, mainly by the '' zona fasciculata'' of the adrenal cortex in the adrenal g ...
. Lumpkin performed PhD training in neuroscience with
A. James Hudspeth
A. James Hudspeth is the F.M. Kirby Professor at Rockefeller University in New York City, where he is director of the F.M. Kirby Center for Sensory Neuroscience. His laboratory studies the physiological basis of hearing.
Early life and education ...
at
University of Texas Southwestern
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 18,800 employees, more than 2,900 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient vis ...
and the
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York (state), New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medica ...
.
Career and research
Lumpkin worked at Columbia University as an associate professor and researcher for 11 years.
She now does research at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
in the Molecular and Cell Biology department studying the
somatosensory system
In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch ( haptic perception), as well as temperature ( thermoception), body position ( proprioception), and pain. I ...
.
Lumpkin's lab studies the somatosensory pathways that encode various stimuli like touch, vibration, and texture. Her research is on the skin's sensory neurons pick up tactile features of objects and how skin cells communicate with the neuro system to encode touch.
Merkel cells
Merkel cells, also known as Merkel-Ranvier cells or tactile epithelial cells, are oval-shaped mechanoreceptors essential for light touch sensation and found in the skin of vertebrates. They are abundant in highly sensitive skin like that of the f ...
are found in clusters called touch domes, which are then connected to neuronal networks.
Lumpkin studies how these cells respond to the sensation of touch by sensing shape, form, and texture. Ellen Lumpkin and her team discovered the specialization of Merkel cells involved in encoding different aspects of the sensation of touch.
Her team discovered that Merkel cells have fast, mechanically activated ion channels, they are capable of sending information to activate sensory neurons, and the activity of Merkel cells is required during touch stimulation.
These findings allowed her lab to conclude that Merkel cells are mechanosensory receptor cells, and she published a paper explaining these results in 2019. Her research has also disproved the common belief that Merkel cells are descended from the neural crest, instead showing that they originate in the skin
Awards
On January 15, 1999, she received the Runyon-Winchell Fellowship Award. She won the Schaefer Scholars Award in 2015. She currently serves as the Co-Director of the Thompson Family Foundation Initiative in CIPN & Sensory Neuroscience.
References
American neuroscientists
Texas Tech University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
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