Dr. Norris received her PhD in Pharmacological Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004.  Her dissertation, which investigated post-translational modifications of alpha-synuclein protein and their effects on the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and other synucleinopathies, was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Virginia M.-Y. Lee.

After leaving Philadelphia, Dr. Norris began her postdoctoral work under the direction of Dr. Sidney Strickland in the Laboratory of Neurobiology & Genetics at The Rockefeller University in New York City. She initially studied the role of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) – the clot-busting enzyme that can be beneficial in the event of a heart attack or ischemic stroke – in anxiety, drug addiction, and fetal alcohol syndrome. Over the years, her focus shifted to exploring the effects of vascular dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis and pathophysiology. Dr. Norris began running her own independent research group and was promoted to Research Assistant Professor in January 2017. She received the Biochemical Journal’s Young Investigator’s Award in 2005 and a career development award from the American Heart Association in 2014. She also served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at Bard College in 2017.

In addition to her research responsibilities, Dr. Norris is an active admissions committee member for Rockefeller’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program and has served as an editorial board member for two scientific journals.