Dr. Kevan Kidder

Seattle, WA 

k_kidder@drkneuro.com or kevank@uw.edu

Education           

Ph.D. Psychology | Behavioral Neuroscience Program | University of Washington | 2022

• Graduate Dissertation: Impacts of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus in Decision-Making.   Link: http://hdl.handle.net/1773/49751

• Completed requirements for Psychology “data science” distinction.

B.S. Biology | B.A. Psychology | University of Washington | 2016

• Completed two separate degrees (Biology & Psychology)

• Achieved Psychology honors distinction through the psychology two-year undergraduate research program

Associate of Arts – Psychology | Pierce Community College 2012

Experience (Research)

Research Scientist & Engineer 3 | Basso Lab | Department of Neurobiology & Biophysics | University of Washington | May 2023 – Present

• Leading investigations into neurodegenerative biomarkers and age-related changes in cognition, physiology (behavior and immunological), and microbiome.

• Leading development and evaluation of a novel naturalistic Parkinson’s disease model in macaques

• Developed a novel “High-throughput cage-side cognitive profiling system” allowing for high-throughput cognitive testing of two macaque species.

• Created an entire suite of touchscreen cognitive tasks for macaque cognitive profiling

• Assist in grant writing and IACUC protocol writing, and maintenance.

• Managed a large team of undergrads (up to 11 at one time) for high-throughput data collection duties

Graduate Research Assistant | Mizumori Lab | Psychology | University of Washington |June 2017 – December 2022

• Investigated neural mechanisms related to information transmission between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex using a closed-loop optogenetic system based on hippocampal oscillatory events (ex. theta phase detection, sharp-wave ripple detection, etc.).

• Designed a micro-drive and surgical techniques to target four brain structures at once. Allowed for tetrode recordings from three structures and simultaneous optogenetic manipulation a fourth brain structure.

• Performed lab manager duties such as: laboratory upkeep, orders, IACUC inspections, inventory, and IACUC protocol writing/maintenance.

• Mentored and managed several undergraduate/volunteer research assistants at a time.

Undergraduate Research Assistant | Mizumori Lab | Psychology Department | University of Washington | October 2013 – June 2017

• (Psych undergrad honors thesis) Investigated the role of the rat lateral habenula in behavioral flexibility and involvement with downstream monoamine systems via pharmacological inactivation during a reversal learning task.

• Designed and troubleshot experiments, collected and analyzed data, performed rodent care and surgeries.

Undergraduate Research Assistant | Dr. Buck’s Laboratory of Human Color Vision | University of Washington | June 2013 -September 2013

• Assisted with the investigation of the effect of saturation on the perception of the color brown

• Explored a basic understanding of the neural substrates of human color vision

• Facilitated human participation in experiments

Experience (Teaching)

Instructor | Psychology | University of Washington | January 2023 – June 2023

o Neuroscience of the Mind (Winter 2023) - Kidder

o Neurobiology of Learning & memory (Spring 2023) - Kidder

Graduate Student Instructor | Psychology | University of Washington June 2021 – August 2021

• Fully designed and taught course as a graduate student:

o Psych 448: Brainwaves & Behavior (ONLINE, Summer 2021) – Kidder

Graduate Teaching Assistant | Psychology | University of Washington | Aug 2017 – June 2022

• Courses:

o Neurobiology of Critical Thinking: What is reality? (Spring 2022) - Covey

o Psych Statistics 317 & 318 (ONLINE, Fall 2020 & Winter 2021) - Little

o Psychology of the Mind (ONLINE, Spring 2020) - Mizumori

o Behavioral Neuroscience Lab (Spring 2019) – Gire

o Intro Psychology (Spring 2018) - Passer

o Sensory & Perceptual Processes (Fall 2018 & 2019) - Covey

o Biopsychology (Fall 2017 & Winter 2022) - Graham

Various Other Teaching Experiences

• Psychology and neuroscience instructor - UW’s Summer Springboard program (2024 & 2025)

Two-week course teaching high school students 5 days a week for three hours each day. Schedule and take students on weekly excursions (Ex. Tour of Allen Brain institute - Seattle)/  High praise and reviews led to a tripling of Psych & Neuro course enrollment my second year. Profile and course links:

▪ https://summerspringboard.com/instructor/kevan-kidder/

▪ https://summerspringboard.com/teen-programs/psychology-neuroscience-in-washington/

• Paid guest speaker: “So you want to be a psychologist?” – Evergreen State College (2019, 2020, 2022)

• Guest lecturer

o Psychopharmacology, lecture: The endocannabinoid system – SPU (2019)

o Neuroscience of the mind, lecture: Neural basis of consciousness – UW (2019, 2020, 2021)

o BioPsychology, lecture: Neural basis of consciousness – UW (2022)

• Volunteer speaker about preparing for graduate school

o International students club (2017)

o Dr. Mizumori’s “Food and the mind” short psychology course (2018)

o Numerous other orientation and training programs

• Paid reader/grader: Graded essays for Psychology 101 (2018)

Publications

• Kidder KS, Asallodahi A, Basso MA. (In-Progress) A High-Throughput Cognitive Profiling System Equipped with Remote Monitoring: Implementation with aged and young macaques. (In-progress)

• Lee Y, Kidder KS, Basso. Comparative Analysis of Microbiota, Metabolites, and Working Memory of Aged Macaca mulatta (rhesus) and Macaca nemestrina (pigtail). (In-progress)

• Kidder KS, Gillis RM, Miles JT, Mizumori SJY (2023). The medial prefrontal cortex during flexible decisions: Evidence for its role in distinct working memory processes. Hippocampus, 1–15. doi: 10.1002/hipo.23594

• Miles JT, Kidder KS and Mizumori SJY (2023). Hippocampal beta rhythms as a bridge between sensory learning and memory-guided decision-making. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 17:1187272. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2023.1187272

• Miles JT, Kidder KS, Wang Z, Zhu Y, Gire DH and Mizumori SJY (2021). A Machine Learning Approach for Detecting Vicarious Trial and Error Behaviors. Front. Neurosci. 15:676779. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.676779

• Kidder, KS, Miles, JT, Baker, PM, Hones, VI, Gire, DH, Mizumori, SJY (2021). A selective role for the mPFC during choice and deliberation, but not spatial memory retention over short delays. Hippocampus. 31: 690– 700.

• Baker, P.M., Oh, S.E., Kidder, K.S., Mizumori, S.J.Y. (2015). Ongoing behavioral state information signaled in the lateral habenula guides choice flexibility in freely moving rats. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 295(9). doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00295

• Kidder, K.S. (2015). Consciousness: From biology to experience. Grey Matters (UW). Issue 5.

• DeLawyer, T., Buck, S., Kidder, K., Mills, A., Parsons, A., Shabaneh, A. (2013). The effects of saturation on the perception of brown stimuli. Journal of Vision. 13(8). doi:10.1167/13.15.43

Conference Presentations

Simian Collective (SIMCO) 2024 conference

• Kidder KS, Asallodahi A, Basso MA. A High-Throughput Cognitive Profiling System Equipped with Wireless Monitoring (2024)

Park City Learning & Memory Conference

• Kidder KS, Miles, JT, Gillis, RM, Mizumori, SJY. Hippocampal-Prefrontal coherence during a spatial delayed-alternation task. (2022)

• Kidder KS, Miles, JT, Baker, PM, Hones, VI, Gire, DH, Mizumori, SJY. A selective role for the mPFC during choice and deliberation, but not spatial memory retention over short delays (2021)

• Kidder KS, Miles, JT, Baker, PM, Hones, VI, Gire, DH, Mizumori, SJY. HPC Theta-driven Disruption of mPFC Impairs spatial-based Decisions (2020)

iNAV Virtual Symposium

• Kidder KS, Miles, JT, Baker, PM, Hones, VI, Gire, DH, Mizumori, SJY A selective role for the mPFC during choice and deliberation, but not spatial memory retention over short delay (2020)

Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting

• Kidder K S, Miles JT, Mizumori, SJY. A circuit for spatial based decisions: Oscillatory dynamics of the medial prefrontal cortex, dorsal, and ventral hippocampus (2022).

• Kidder KS, Miles, JT, Baker, PM, Hones, VI, Gire, DH, Mizumori, SJY. A selective role for the mPFC during choice and deliberation, but not spatial memory retention over short delays (2021)

• Kidder, K.S., Baker, P.M., Rivera, Z.M., Lewis, S.M., Gire, D.H., Mizumori, S.J.Y.. Optogenetic stimulation of prefrontal cortex induces behavioral deficits and alters hippocampal local field potential in rats. (2018)

• K. S. Kidder, P. M. Baker, S. J. Y. Mizumori; Psychology, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA. A role for the lateral habenula and downstream efferent pathways in repeated probabilistic reversal learning. (2015)

• A. Bosma-Moody, K. S. Kidder, L. Selby; Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA. Grey Matters Journal: A unique approach to neuroscience outreach and education. (2015)

NeuroFutures Annual Conference

• Kidder, K., Miles, J., Zhang, S., Ivanova, V., Mizumori, S.; mPFC disruption alters hippocampal-dependent deliberative behavior. (2019)

• Kidder, K., Rivera, Z., Lewis, S., Baker, P., Gire, D., Mizumori, S.; Inactivation of prefrontal cortex induces spatial alternation deficits and alters hippocampal local field potentials in rats. (2018)

Mary Gates Undergraduate Research Symposium (2015) - University of Washington

• Kidder, K.S., Baker, P.M., Mizumori, S.J.Y.; Psychology, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA. Inactivation of lateral habenula impairs probabilistic reversal learning in rats. (2014)

• Kidder, K., Ling, R., Trotter, M., Weng, I., Delawyer, T., Joslyn, S.; Psychology, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA. Analyzing real and illusory pattern perception in individuals with an altered sense of control.

Awards and Organizations

• UW Psychology Hunt Fellowship Award (Summer 2022)

• UW Psychology Departmental Scholar (Summer 2017)

• Professional Trainee Development Award (SFN 2015)

• Mary Gates Conference Travel Award (UW 2015)

• Society for Neuroscience member

• UW Departmental Honors Student Spotlight (Fall 2015)

• UW Psychology Honors Program (2-years)

• Short Course: Optimizing experimental design for high-quality science (SFN 2015)

• Grey Matters: UW’s undergraduate neuroscience journal and student club (2014-2016)