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Neuroscience Track

The interdisciplinary research programs of Yale neuroscience faculty are central to the Neuroscience Track in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences program. The primary purpose of the Neuroscience Track is to provide students with maximum diversity and depth in the most important areas of neuroscience research. The Track draws on the knowledge and expertise of more than eighty faculty members, representing over twenty departments in both the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine, ranging from Psychiatry to Pharmacology and from Cell Biology to Biomedical Engineering.

Neuroscience Track Leadership

  • Co-Director of Graduate Studies, Neuroscience Track

    Associate Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and of Physics and of Neuroscience

  • Director, Neuroscience Track

    Charles B. G. Murphy Professor of Psychiatry and Professor in the Child Study Center, of Neuroscience and of Pharmacology; Director Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Psychiatry; Deputy Chair for Basic Science Research, Dept. of Psychiatry; Director, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program

Faculty

  • Albert E. Kent Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology

    Research Interests
    • Behavioral Sciences
    • Electrochemistry
    • Neurobiology
    • Psychiatry
    • Signal Transduction
    • Substance-Related Disorders
  • Associate Professor of Psychiatry and of Neuroscience; Director, Minority Recruitment, Psychiatry Department; Director, Postdoctoral Affairs, Psychiatry Department

    Research Interests
    • Acetylcholine
    • Electrophysiology
    • Glutamates
    • Interneurons
    • Memory
    • Neurobiology
    • Nicotine
    • Psychiatry
    • Puberty
    • Signal Transduction
    • Prefrontal Cortex
    • Kisspeptins
  • Glenn H. Greenberg Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Psychology; Director, Division of Neurocognition, Neurocomputation, and Neurogenetics (N3), Psychiatry

    Research Interests
    • Affect
    • Mental Disorders
    • Cognition
    • Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted
    • Emotions
    • Memory, Short-Term
    • Schizophrenia
    • Computational Biology
    • Substance-Related Disorders
    • Neuroimaging
  • Albert E. Kent Professor of Neuroscience and Professor of Psychology; Member, Kavli Institute of Neuroscience at Yale University

    Research Interests
    • Aging
    • Alzheimer Disease
    • Behavioral Sciences
    • Psychology, Child
    • Mental Health
    • Neurobiology
    • Neurosciences
    • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
    • Prefrontal Cortex
    • Cognitive Science
  • Associate Professor of Cellular & Molecular Physiology

    Research Interests
    • Biochemistry
    • Biophysics
    • Ducks
    • Electrophysiology
    • Ion Channels
    • Mechanoreceptors
    • Neurosciences
    • Pacinian Corpuscles
    • Sensory Receptor Cells
    • Trigeminal Ganglion
    • Thermoreceptors
    • Potassium Channels
    • Anseriformes
    • Transient Receptor Potential Channels
    • Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels
  • Associate Professor of Neurology

    Research Interests
    • Biochemistry
    • Central Nervous System
    • Neurology
    • Neurosciences
    • Parkinson Disease
    • Schizophrenia
    • Synapses
  • John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience and Professor of Psychiatry, and in the Child Study Center and of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging; Director, Mood Disorders Research Program

    Research Interests
    • Adolescent Psychiatry
    • Bipolar Disorder
    • Depression
    • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
    • Psychiatry
    • Suicide
    • Mood Disorders
    • Diffusion Tensor Imaging
    • Neuropsychiatry
  • Mark Loughridge and Michele Williams Professor of Neurology and Professor of Neuroscience and of Neurosurgery; Director, Yale Clinical Neuroscience Imaging Center (CNIC)

    Research Interests
    • Attention
    • Consciousness
    • Consciousness Disorders
    • Electrophysiology
    • Epilepsy
    • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
    • Neurobiology
    • Neurology
    • Neurosurgery
    • Behavioral Research
    • Neuroimaging
  • Rothberg Professor of Neurosurgery; Vice Chair of Research, Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery

    Research Interests
    • Autistic Disorder
    • Central Nervous System Diseases
    • Nervous System Malformations
    • Nervous System Diseases
    • Neurologic Manifestations
    • Neurosurgery
    • Physiology
    • Stem Cells
    • Diseases
  • Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry; Co-director, Science Fellows Program

    Research Interests
    • Biological Psychiatry
    • Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

    Research Interests
    • Biochemistry
    • Biophysics
    • Electrophysiology
    • Pharmacology
    • Smell
    • Taste
    • Cryoelectron Microscopy
    • Ligand-Gated Ion Channels
  • Associate Professor of Neurology and of Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Brain Diseases
    • Demyelinating Diseases
    • Pain
    • Spinal Cord Injuries
    • Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Associate Professor Tenure; Deputy Chair, Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Autistic Disorder
    • Cerebral Cortex
    • Electrophysiology
    • Epilepsy
    • Interneurons
    • Neurobiology
    • Neurosciences
    • Schizophrenia
  • Eugene Higgins Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

    Research Interests
    • Drosophila
    • Smell
    • Taste
    • Mosquito Vectors
  • Associate Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Neurology
    • Neuronal Ceroid-Lipofuscinoses
    • Parkinson Disease
    • Synapses
    • Receptors, Presynaptic
    • Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Assistant Professor in Neuroscience and of Cellular and Molecular Physiology

    Research Interests
    • Cardiovascular System
    • Cranial Nerves
    • Heart
    • Neural Pathways
    • Physiology
    • Vagus Nerve
    • Peripheral Nervous System
    • Ganglia, Sensory
    • Optogenetics
  • Associate Professor Tenure; Associate Professor, Neuroscience; Member, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Amygdala
    • Neurophysiology
    • Social Behavior
    • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Director of Graduate Admissions, Neuroscience Track

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry; Director of Graduate Admissions, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program

  • Richard M. Colgate Professor of Psychology and Professor of Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Attention
    • Decision Making
    • Memory
    • Neurobiology
    • Perception
    • Psychiatry and Psychology
  • Co-Director of Graduate Studies, Neuroscience Track

    Associate Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and of Physics and of Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Behavior
    • Drosophila
    • Motion Perception
    • Neurobiology
    • Sensation
    • Visual Perception
    • Computational Biology
    • Optogenetics
  • Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and Professor of Neurosurgery; Director MRI Research

    Research Interests
    • Anatomy
    • Diagnostic Imaging
    • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
    • Neurosurgery
    • Radiology
    • Neuroimaging
  • Professor of Psychiatry and of Neuroscience and of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging; Co-Director of the T32 Translational Alcohol Research Program, Psychiatry and Public Health

    Research Interests
    • Alcohol Drinking
    • Brain
    • Opioid-Related Disorders
    • Neurobiology
    • Nicotine
    • Radiology
    • Positron-Emission Tomography
    • Neuroimaging
    • alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor
    • Diseases
    • Chemicals and Drugs
    • Psychiatry and Psychology
  • Vice Provost for Research and William Ziegler III Professor of Neuroscience and Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science; Vice Provost for Research, Office of the Provost

    Research Interests
    • Brain
    • Cerebral Cortex
    • Child Development
    • Nervous System
    • Synaptic Transmission
    • Neuronal Plasticity
    • Neurosciences
    • Visual Cortex
  • Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery; Assistant Professor, Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Alzheimer Disease
    • Anxiety
    • Epilepsy
    • Memory Disorders
    • Psychological Distress
  • John Klingenstein Professor of Neuroscience and Professor of Cell Biology; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Director, Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair

    Research Interests
    • Alzheimer Disease
    • Cell Membrane
    • Cell Biology
    • Endocytosis
    • Neurosciences
    • Parkinson Disease
    • Synapses
    • Lipid Metabolism
    • Neuroacanthocytosis
  • Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science

    Research Interests
    • Adaptation, Physiological
    • Neurophysiology
    • Retinal Ganglion Cells
    • Synapses
    • Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells
    • Retinal Bipolar Cells
  • Associate Professor in Comparative Medicine; Associate Professor, Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Alzheimer Disease
    • Animals
    • Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms
    • Mental Disorders
    • Hypothalamus
    • Mental Health
    • Nervous System
    • Neurobiology
    • Neurosciences
    • Obesity
    • Synapses
  • Professor of Psychiatry and of Neuroscience; Deputy Director, Abraham Ribicoff Research Facilities, Psychiatry

    Research Interests
    • Feeding and Eating Disorders
    • Ethology
    • Neurobiology
    • Obesity
    • Psychiatry
    • Exercise
    • Substance Abuse Detection
    • Natural History
    • Glucose Metabolism Disorders
    • Animal Nutrition Sciences
  • Associate Professor of Psychiatry and of Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Behavior, Animal
    • Cognition
    • Electrophysiology
    • Hippocampus
    • Learning
    • Neuronal Plasticity
    • Spatial Behavior
    • Spatial Memory
    • Psychiatry and Psychology
  • Professor of Pharmacology and of Cellular And Molecular Physiology

    Research Interests
    • Calcium
    • Polycystic Kidney Diseases
    • Pharmacology
    • Physiology
    • Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions
    • Hermeneutics
  • Professor of Laboratory Medicine, of Neurosurgery, and of Cellular and Molecular Physiology; Vice Chair for Education, Department of Laboratory Medicine; Director of Medical Education, Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology; Thread Leader, Physiology, Office of Education; Associate Director, Clinical Chemistry Laboratory, Yale-New Haven Hospital

    Research Interests
    • Epilepsy
    • Immunohistochemistry
    • Neurosurgery
    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Medical Laboratory Science
    • Toxicology
    • Clinical Chemistry Tests
  • Lewis B. Cullman Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Professor of Physics

  • Associate Professor of Psychiatry; Director, Molecular Imaging Program, NCPTSD, VA; Director, Mood, Anxiety, and Cognitive Sciences Division

    Research Interests
    • Psychiatry
    • Radiology
    • Tobacco
    • Mood Disorders
    • Molecular Imaging
    • Chemicals and Drugs
  • Assistant Professor of Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Cerebral Cortex
    • Inflammation
    • Microscopy
    • Molecular Biology
    • Neural Inhibition
    • Neurobiology
    • Neuronal Plasticity
    • Psychoneuroimmunology
    • Synapses
    • Neuroimmunomodulation
    • Microglia
    • Transcriptome
    • Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Assistant Professor of Neurology

    Research Interests
    • Alzheimer Disease
    • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
    • Neuroimaging
    • Functional Neuroimaging
    • Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography
  • Associate Professor of Neurology and Pharmacology

    Research Interests
    • Glioblastoma
    • Immune System
    • Inflammation
    • Cell Death
    • Neurodegenerative Diseases
    • Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

    Research Interests
    • Anxiety Disorders
    • Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms
    • Genetics
    • Neurobiology
    • Neurosciences
    • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
    • Stress, Psychological
    • Suicide
    • Genomics
    • Proteomics
    • Transcriptome
  • Assistant Professor of Psychiatry; Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology; Director, Cognitive Neuroscience of Affect, Memories and Stress (CAMS) Lab, Psychiatry

    Research Interests
    • Alcohol Drinking
    • Association Learning
    • Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms
    • Emotions
    • Glucocorticoids
    • Habits
    • Stress, Physiological
    • Stress, Psychological
    • Substance-Related Disorders
    • Memory, Long-Term
    • Functional Neuroimaging
    • Memory, Episodic
  • Assistant Professor of Pathology

    Research Interests
    • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
    • Autopsy
    • Cell Biology
    • Neurons
    • Ribonucleoproteins
    • Neurodegenerative Diseases
    • RNA Transport
    • Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration
    • TDP-43 Proteinopathies
  • Professor of Neurosurgery and of Neuroscience; Co Vice Chair of Research, Neurosurgery; Director, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Graduate Program

    Research Interests
    • Central Nervous System
    • Neuroglia
    • Neurons
    • Nose
    • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatology) and of Genetics; Faculty, Investigative Medicine Program, Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

    Research Interests
    • Dyslexia
    • Genetics
    • Language
    • Language Development Disorders
    • Learning Disabilities
    • Investigative Techniques
    • Neonatology
    • Pediatrics
  • Dr. Harry M. Zimmerman and Dr. Nicholas and Viola Spinelli Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience; Vice-Chair for Research, Neurology; Director, Center for Experimental Neuroimaging

    Research Interests
    • Alzheimer Disease
    • Astrocytes
    • Axons
    • Blood-Brain Barrier
    • Capillaries
    • Cerebrovascular Circulation
    • Microscopy
    • Nerve Fibers, Myelinated
    • Neuronal Plasticity
    • Regional Blood Flow
    • Microglia
    • Neurodegenerative Diseases
    • Pericytes
  • Sterling Professor of Neurosurgery and Professor of Genetics and of Neuroscience; Chair, Neurosurgery; Physician-in-Chief, Neurosurgery, Yale New Haven Health System; Member, National Academy of Medicine; Co-Director, Yale Program on Neurogenetics

    Research Interests
    • Aneurysm
    • Brain
    • Genetics
    • Molecular Biology
    • Neurobiology
    • Neurosurgery
    • Hemangioma, Cavernous, Central Nervous System
  • Co-Director of Graduate Studies, Neuroscience Track

    Assistant Professor of Neuroscience; Co-Director of Graduate Studies, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program

    Research Interests
    • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
    • Neurons
    • RNA
    • Motor Neuron Disease
    • RNA-Binding Proteins
    • Computational Biology
    • Neurodegenerative Diseases
    • Genomics
    • RNA Transport
    • Frontotemporal Dementia
    • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Associate Professor of Pediatrics (General Pediatrics/ DBP); Associate Professor, Neuroscience; Associate Professor, Child Study Center

    Research Interests
    • Autistic Disorder
    • Brain Diseases
    • Child Development Disorders, Pervasive
    • Neurobiology
    • Rare Diseases
    • Genetic Research
    • Pluripotent Stem Cells
  • William S. and Lois Stiles Edgerly Professor of Neurology and Professor of Immunobiology; Chair, Neurology; Neurologist-in-Chief, Yale New Haven Hospital

    Research Interests
    • Brain Neoplasms
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Neurology
    • Neurosciences
    • Autoimmunity
  • Professor of Genetics and of Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Axons
    • Cell Biology
    • Nerve Regeneration
    • Gene Expression
    • Caenorhabditis elegans
  • Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging; Director of real-time fMRI

    Research Interests
    • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
    • Neurosciences
    • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
    • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
    • Video Games
    • Neurofeedback
    • Psychiatry and Psychology
  • Associate Professor of Neuroscience and of Biomedical Engineering and of Psychiatry; Member, Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair (CNNR); Associate Director, MD-PhD Program

    Research Interests
    • Autistic Disorder
    • Behavior
    • Dendrites
    • Electrophysiology
    • Neurobiology
    • Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton
  • Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Comparative Medicine and of Neuroscience

    Research Interests
    • Neurosciences
  • Associate Professor in the Child Study Center

    Research Interests
    • Autistic Disorder
    • Child Psychiatry
    • Genetics
    • Neurobiology
    • Neuropharmacology
    • Neurosciences
    • Pharmacology
    • Zebrafish
    • Translational Research, Biomedical
  • Jean and David W. Wallace Professor of Comparative Medicine and Professor of Neuroscience and of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences; Chair, Comparative Medicine

    Research Interests
    • Neuroendocrinology
    • Obesity
    • Physiology