A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.

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Sarah Burris, PhD

Lecturer

Contact

Bio

Education: PhD, Pharmacological and Physiological Science, 2010, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri. BS, Biology and Chemistry, 2004, Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri. Publications: Circulation Research, British Journal of Pharmacology, Journal of Physiology, Experimental Physiology, FASEB Journal, Acta Physiologica Sinica. Awards: American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics—Experimental Biology (Travel), American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics—Cardiovascular Division (Best Abstract Finalist), APS Professional Skills Training Workshop, Writing and Reviewing for Scientific Journals (full funding), Beijing Joint Conference of Physiological Sciences (Travel), Saint Louis University—Passing with Great Distinction (Highest Honor awarded), FASEB—Australia (Travel).

Personal Statement

Sarah earned her PhD at Saint Louis University in 2005. Subsequently, she completed two postdoctoral fellowships with the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the University of Tennessee, Memphis. Her research over the past ten years has encompassed several facets of cardiovascular disease including cocaine induced cardiomyopathies and sympathetic activation following myocardial infarction. Sarah was previously employed as the Director of the Core Cardiovascular Surgery Facility for the Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology at Loyola University—Chicago until she left in 2017. She is currently the Scientific Liaison for FUJIFILM VisualSonics.

In addition to her contributions in science, Sarah is also the owner/artist of the Chicago-based company, "Down The Pipeline," which specializes in producing functional works of art out of industrial material. She received some of her artistic training at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she studied visual communications, graphic design, and photography. Over the last five years, her work has been featured on Explore St. Louis, in Skona Hem Magazine (Sweden) and at the Fumetto Comix Festival (Switzerland). Sarah joined the SAIC community as a faculty member in 2015 and has since been teaching a course she designed entitled, Drugs We Use and Abuse.

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

Drugs are substances that can alter processes in our minds and bodies. Humans have explored the use of such substances throughout recorded history. In this course we will establish the foundations of systems biology necessary to understand how drugs act on receptors and alter neurotransmitters in the human body, and how they are metabolized and excreted. We will survey a range of drugs (legal and illegal) and discuss how they work, enabling a critical consideration of how they are used and abused in contemporary society. Students will confront real-world media and current debates about medical and recreational drugs with a focus on the role of the underlying science.

Class Number

1588

Credits

3

Description

Drugs are substances that can alter processes in our minds and bodies. Humans have explored the use of such substances throughout recorded history. In this course we will establish the foundations of systems biology necessary to understand how drugs act on receptors and alter neurotransmitters in the human body, and how they are metabolized and excreted. We will survey a range of drugs (legal and illegal) and discuss how they work, enabling a critical consideration of how they are used and abused in contemporary society. Students will confront real-world media and current debates about medical and recreational drugs with a focus on the role of the underlying science.

Class Number

1969

Credits

3