Carla Shatz and Corey Goodman. Photo: Keegan Houser
In April 2025, the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (HWNI) and the Department of Neuroscience launched the Carla and Corey Lectureship Series, which was created through the generosity of co-founding directors of HWNI, Dr. Carla Shatz and Dr. Corey Goodman, along with Goodman’s wife Marcia Barinaga.
The Carla and Corey Lectureship brings outstanding neuroscientists to our campus to share their research and engage with our vibrant, interdisciplinary scientific community, spanning the full breadth of mind and brain science.
Shatz and Goodman, both UC Berkeley faculty members at the time, co-founded Berkeley’s neuroscience institute in 1997, and served as its first directors. Together, they worked with Berkeley alumna and world champion tennis star Helen Wills to leave her estate to the university, endowing and naming the institute. Shatz is now a professor at Stanford, while Goodman is an adjunct professor in HWNI and life sciences venture capital leader.
The series began on April 23, 2025 with inaugural speaker, Cori Bargmann, PhD (Rockefeller University). Dr. Bargmann is a renowned neuroscientist celebrated for her groundbreaking work on the genetic and neural mechanisms underlying behavior. Her research has provided profound insights into how neural circuits and molecular pathways regulate complex behaviors, offering valuable implications for understanding brain function and human neurological conditions.
We look forward to building on this strong foundation with exciting lectureship speakers in the years ahead. Stay tuned — information about our 2026 schedule will be coming soon.
Cori Bargmann giving the inaugural Carla and Corey Lecture at UC Berkeley on April 23, 2025. Photo by: Keegan Houser
A captivated audience. Photo by: Keegan Houser