Kathleen Thomas

Kathleen Thomas is the William Harris Professor and Director at the Institute of Child Development within the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development. Her research focuses on cognitive development and neurobiological correlates of attention, learning, and memory in children and adolescents. She leads the Cognitive Development & Neuroimaging Lab, employing neuroimaging techniques like MRI and ERP to study brain-behavior relationships.

Dr. Thomas earned her PhD in 1997 from the University of Minnesota. Her work investigates how life experiences, such as early orphanage rearing or prenatal conditions, impact brain and cognitive development. Current projects include studying premature infants, emotional expression understanding, and substance use effects on adolescent brain structure.

Her lab uses a multidisciplinary approach, combining behavioral studies with advanced neuroimaging. Dr. Thomas mentors Ph.D. students in the child psychology program, emphasizing collaborative mentorship and expects students to engage deeply with research and ethics. She is open to new students for Fall 2025 as a primary or co-advisor.

No scientific awards are explicitly listed, but her extensive publications reflect significant contributions to developmental neuroscience. Her work bridges typical and at-risk populations to understand cognitive and emotional development trajectories.