Rate My Professor Linda Watkins

Linda R. Watkins is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she has held her position since 1988. She also serves as a University of Colorado President’s Teaching Scholar. She earned her PhD in Physiology from the Medical College of Virginia in 1980. Her research centers on pain modulation systems, with a focus on immune and glial regulation of neuronal function, immune-to-brain communication, and glial contributions to pain, opioid analgesia, drugs of abuse, learning and memory, and neuronal excitability. Additional interests include stress-induced regulation of brain and behavior and the development of novel approaches to controlling chronic pain.

Dr. Watkins has received career awards from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Mental Health, along with numerous research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and National Institute on Drug Abuse. She has authored or co-authored over 190 book chapters, review articles, and journal articles. She directs research through the Maier/Watkins Laboratory and maintains affiliations with the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder.