Huber, Kimberly

Dr. Huber is a professor at the University of Texas at Southwestern. She made the original discovery of the mGluR Theory of Fragile X when she was a postdoctoral fellow studying with Dr. Mark Bear, with her first FRAXA grant in 2000. Dr. Huber has received $474,300 in grants from FRAXA Research Foundation since then, researching molecular mechanisms and developmental switches in Fragile X syndrome. She has supervised 4 FRAXA Postdoctoral Fellows (Elena Nosyreva, PhD in 2006; Jennifer Roseni, PhD in 2007; Tong Zang, PhD in 2010-2011; and Weirui Guo, PhD in 2012-2013).

Integrating Human and Mouse Studies in Fragile X Syndrome – an NIH Center Approach

FRAXA Research Foundation

Presentations by:
Craig Erickson – Translational medicine and mechanistic studies of brain neurophysiology in Fragile X Syndrome: A NIH Center Overview
Ernest Pedapati – Network Mechanisms, Biomarkers, and Pharmacology of Fragile X Syndrome in Humans
Devin Binder – Network Mechanisms of Neurophysiology and Behavior in mouse models of Fragile X Syndrome
Kimberly Huber – FMRP Regulation of local and long-range neocortical circuits in the mouse: Links with EEG phenotypes

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Impact of the Fragile X Community

Dave Bjork

At FRAXA Research Foundation, we are truly grateful for our Fragile X community and thousands of donors. We couldn’t keep moving the ball forward in research without your support. Each year FRAXA invests over $1 million in Fragile X research thanks to your support. Because we supported these three researchers, we were able to secure another $35 million in research aimed at identifying clinical trial outcome measures that will lead to human trials of promising treatments for those affected by Fragile X.

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Kimberly Huber, PhD, Explores Hyperexcitability in Fragile X Syndrome

Theodore Coutilish
Dr. Kimberly Huber

Ever wonder why your child with Fragile X suddenly screams for no apparent reason or jumps and flaps uncontrollably seemingly for hours? You got it: hyperexcitability. But what exactly causes it? And what can fix it? Kimberly Huber, PhD, is working long and hard in her lab to answer those questions. Dr. Huber, professor, Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, is seeking to understand how FMRP regulates connections between brain cells, called synapses, and the function of brain circuits, which are several connected brain cells.

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A Developmental Switch Exists in the Effects of FMRP

FRAXA Research Foundation
Dr. Kimberly Huber

With a $90,00 grant from FRAXA Research Foundation for 2010-2011, Dr. Kimberly Huber and her team at the University of Texas at Southwestern found that there is a developmental switch of postsynaptic FMRP on synaptic function. This switch is controlled by MEF2 transcriptional activity. Proper synapse maturation and elimination is crucial for the establishment of appropriate neural circuits that underlie sensory processing and cognition. Neuron of Fragile X patients as well as in the mouse model of Fragile X, Fmr1 KO mice, display more dendritic spines, the point of contact for excitatory synapses, as well as long and thin filopodia resembling immature spines. This suggests Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) has a role in promoting synapse maturation and elimination.

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