
UCSF Profile: HA Ingraham
Email: [email protected]
NIH_BioSketch_2020: Ingraham.pdf
Those who devote their lives to creative pursuits are often inspired by a singular event. Mine came from my great-grandfather, whose 1890 Bausch & Lomb microscope, abandoned in a closet after being shipped west from Worcester Massachusetts, came into my possession when I was 10 years old. I picked it up and began exploring the biological world of Northern California, never to stop. But sporadic events are not enough to support a lifetime of curiosity and discovery. That support would come via the State of California through an amazing and accessible public education system beginning at UCSD, and through the National Institutes of Health, which has supported curiosity-based discovery research as an engine for improving our health and well-being. Unwavering personal support also comes from my husband, family, and mentors who provide the personal strength and resiliency needed to overcome moments of disappointment, insecurity, and self-doubt. I thoroughly enjoy my life as a scientist and continue to be addicted to the rare experimental successes sprinkled among the many failures inherent in the scientific process.
In partnership with San Francisco State University, I also direct the UCSF IRACDA Scholars Program with Ms. Anne Sufka to build diversity in our nation's biomedical workforce and faculty. Our efforts along with generous funding from NIGMS K12 grant and the UCSF School of Medicine provide career development programming for a cohort of postdoctoral fellows.
Current research projects in the Ingraham lab:
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Map hormone-modulated neural circuits that motivate spontaneous activity.
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Annotate hormone-responsive brain regions that maximize reproduction.
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Identify a potent anabolic bone factor that is brain-derived.
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Define estrogen-responsive cells in the gut epithelium.
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Define how estrogen promotes visceral sensitivity in the female gut.
Ruben Rodriguez, PhD - IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellow
Archana Venkataraman, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow
Muriel Babey, MD - Endocrine Fellow
Shermel Sherman, PhD - IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellow
Joni Nikkanen, PhD - HSFP Postdoctoral Fellow
Adriana Padilla, BS - 2nd Yr Neuroscience Graduate Student
Candice Herber, PhD - Senior Specialist
William Krause, PhD - Senior Specialist
Jennay Argiris, BA - Junior Specialist
Anne Sufka, BA - Coordinator for IRACDA Scholars Program
Lidiana Sanvar, BA - Administrative Assistant
1981-1983 Muscular Dystrophy Fellowship,
1982-1983 J. Aaron Charitable Foundation Fellow
1983-1984 W.M. Keck Foundation Fellow
1991-1992 Genentech Human Growth Foundation Award
1997-2002 NIH-Research Career Development Award
2000 First Named Lectureship for Women in Society of Andrology
2001 Williams Lectureship for Pediatric Research
2002 Brook Byers Basic Science Faculty Award
2002 Sandler Opportunity Award
2003 UCSF Outstanding Faculty Mentorship Award Nominee
2006 Herzstein Distinguished Investigator in Molecular Physiology
2008 American Diabetes Association Champion Gala Honoree
2009, 2011 Plenary Lectureships Endocrine Society
2011 Named NIH College of Reviewers
2012 Elected Fellow of American Assoc. for Adv. of Science (AAAS)
2017 Chancellor’s Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Leadership Award
2018 Chauncey D. Leake Lectureship Award
2018 Keynote Speaker - Ray E. Burger Research Colloquium, UC Davis
2018 Keynote Speaker - 8th Great Lakes Nuclear Receptor Conference, MN
2018 Joseph Larner Memorial Lectureship Award in Pharmacology, U. of Virginia, VA
2019 Elsevier Keynote Speaker – Society for Behavioral Neuroscience Conference, IN
2019 42nd Steenbook Lectureship Award, U. of Wisconsin - Madison, WI
2019 Elected Member American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S)
2020 Named UCSF Herzstein Endowed Professor of Molecular Physiology
2020 Inaugural International GCRLE Senior Scholar (3 chosen)
2021 Elected Member National Academy of Sciences (NAS)