A message from Carney Institute Director Diane Lipscombe:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Gilad Barnea, Sidney A. Fox and Dorothea Doctors Fox Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Visual Science, and Neuroscience, as director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Cells and Circuits, effective January 1, 2019. I know Gilad will join me in thanking Eric Morrow and Julie Kauer for their prior co-leadership of the Center. Julie and Eric did great community building and have helped identify critical microscopy needs, which Gilad will work with us to address.

Gilad’s extensive leadership portfolio as well as his ongoing research and teaching position him well to build on the considerable strengths of the Center, which nucleates interdisciplinary faculty teams to advance our understanding of the function of neural circuits, using genetic, molecular, and cellular approaches as a foundation.

Gilad received a Ph.D. in pharmacology from New York University in 1995, and he joined Brown University’s Department of Neuroscience in 2007. Gilad's passion for science is evident in his work. His lab is interested in how neural circuits are used to process sensory information and the neural code used to initiate behavioral responses.

Gilad’s team has developed trans-Tango, a new method for transsynaptic labeling of neural circuits. They implemented it to study a variety of circuits, including those involved in olfactory and gustatory processing. Consistent with Gilad’s strong sense of community, his team has shared this technology with many other labs to dissect neural circuits that regulate behavior.

Since joining Brown, Gilad has received multiple awards and fellowships including the Kavli Fellowship from the National Academy of Science, NIH-EUREKA, and two innovation awards from the Carney Institute—to name a few.

Please join me in welcoming Gilad into this important leadership role within the Carney Institute, and thanking Eric and Julie for their contributions.

My best,

Diane Lipscombe

Director, Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science