Dr. Kim Aldinger

Dr. Aldinger is an assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Genetic Medicine and an adjunct assistant professor of Neurology at the University of Washington. She is also a principal investigator in the Center for Integrative Brain Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Dr. Aldinger completed her Bachelor’s degree in Biology at Brandeis University, her Master’s degree in Psychology at Harvard University, and her PhD in Neurobiology at the University of Chicago. Following her graduate work, Kimberly trained as a post-doctoral fellow in developmental neuroscience at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, before accepting a position at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. The Aldinger laboratory studies the genetics and development of pediatric neurological disorders. The aim of this work is to understand how genetic and cellular changes lead to specific clinical symptoms, with the hope that a better understanding of disease pathways will lead to more effective and targeted therapies for pediatric neurogenetic disorders. Through her research, Aldinger is discovering gene mutations that drive neurodevelopmental disorders, and unraveling how previously-discovered mutations influence these disorders and normal brain development. The Aldinger Lab uses developmental neuroscience and computational approaches to decipher the mechanisms that cause pediatric neurogenetic disorders and pathologies associated with structural brain changes, cognitive impairment, and epilepsy.