Janet Whitson
Assistant Professor of Biology
Department of Natural Science
Profile Janet S. Whitson has taught at Concordia since 2003. She brought a broad background in education to Concordia. She has taught elementary school science, has spent time in administration and teaching at the high school level, and served as an assistant professor in the Neurosurgery Department of the University of Texas medical school in Houston. Since coming to Concordia, Dr. Whitson has initiated a program of student research, giving Concordia’s interested undergraduates the opportunity to participate in a long-term research effort and the chance to learn research techniques like microdissection and neuronal cell culture which would not normally be available in an undergraduate curriculum. Dr. Whitson is a member of the National Science Teachers Association and the international Society for Neuroscience.
Education Post-doctoral training, Baylor School of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Ph.D., University of California at Irvine (1991)
B.S., Concordia Teacher’s College, Illinois (1971)
Courses taught Principles of Biology, General Biology, Introductory Embryology, Biology of the Brain, Research in Biology, Primary Literature in Biology, Biochemistry Lab
Other Dr. Whitson’s research interests include Alzheimer’s disease (specifically the beta-amyloid protein), traumatic brain injury, and ischemia. Her favorite brain part is the hippocampus, and all of her research has been focused on this area. At the high school level, she was three times nominated by former students to Who’s Who in Teaching and won awards at the University of California for both teaching and research.