Scholarship and Biography

Survival requires that animals interact in appropriate and adaptive ways with their environment. My lab is interested in how the nervous system integrates information and generates behavioral outputs. We study behavior at the biochemical, cellular and organismal levels using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism.

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Honors

IBANGS Distinguished Investigator Award
International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society, 2026
Distinguished Investigator PIFI
Chinese Academy of Sciences (China, Beijing) - CAS, 2025-2026
Distinguished Visitor
Texas A&M University (United States, College Station) - TAMU, 2024-2025-2026
Sonnenberg Lecture
Indiana University (United States, Bloomington) - IU, 12/2025
Jacob Javits Award
National Institutes of Health (United States, Bethesda) - NIH, 2019
SASTRA-Obaid Siddiqi Award in Life Sciences
SASTRA University (India, Thanjavur), 2018
Elected Fellow
American Association For The Advancement of Science (United States, Washington D.C.) - AAAS, 2017
Honorary Member
Royal European Academy of Doctors, 2016
McKnight Technological Innovation Award
McKnight Foundation (United States, Minneapolis), 1999-2000
Scholar in Residence, Neural Systems and Behavior
Marine Biological Laboratory (United States, Falmouth) - MBL, 2006-2007
Career Development Award
National Institutes of Health (United States, Bethesda) - NIH, 1996-2001
Grant
Whitehall Foundation (United States, Palm Beach), 1995-1997
Research Fellowship
Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund (United States, New York), 1994-1997
Research Fellowship
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (United States, New York), 1994-1996

Organizational Affiliations

Nancy Lurie Marks Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Department of Biology, Brandeis University

Affiliated Faculty, Benjamin and Mae Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University

Affiliated Faculty, Neuroscience Program, Brandeis University

Director, Benjamin and Mae Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University

Past Affiliations

Scholar in residence, Neural Systems and Behavior, Marine Biological Laboratory (United States, Falmouth) - MBL

Education

Stanford University
Ph.D.
Stanford University
M.D.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
B.S.