HWNI Faculty

Image from Theresa Puthussery's lab showing an immunostained macaque retina featured on the April 4, 2018 cover of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Our community includes over 70 faculty members from many academic departments who deepen our understanding of the brain and the rest of the nervous system through neurotechnology innovation and original research. Explore the research interests of Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute faculty below, and click on their name for more information. 

Name Job title Department Role Research interests Email
Hillel Adesnik Associate Professor Neuroscience Faculty

Plasticity, connectivity, and dynamics of neural networks

hadesnik@berkeley.edu
Scott Baraban Adjunct Professor HWNI Faculty

Translational epilepsy research with a focus on interneurons, genetic forms of epilepsy, zebrafish and drug discovery. 

scott.baraban@ucsf.edu
Helen Bateup Associate Professor Neuroscience, Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Molecular basis of synapse and circuit changes associated with epilepsy and autism. 

bateup@berkeley.edu
Diana Bautista Professor Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Molecular mechanisms underlying the sensations of itch, touch and pain. 

dbautista@berkeley.edu
Annaliese Beery Associate Professor Neuroscience, Integrative Biology Faculty

Mechanisms supporting affiliative social behavior between peers; neuroendocrinology of complex behavior. 

abeery@berkeley.edu
Eric Betzig Professor Molecular & Cell Biology, Physics Faculty

Development of new tools for imaging and image analysis to enable biological discovery

ebcal@berkeley.edu
Sonia Bishop Adjunct Associate Professor HWNI Faculty, ICBS Members

Neural basis of attention, emotion and anxiety. Individual differences in cognitive control and emotional responsivity. 

sbishop@berkeley.edu
Kristofer Bouchard Adjunct Assistant Professor HWNI Faculty

Functional organization and dynamic coordination of sensorimotor networks underlying learned, skilled behaviors. 

kebouchard@berkeley.edu
Stephen Brohawn Associate Professor Neuroscience, Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Molecular basis of sensory transduction and electrical signaling, especially mechanosensation.

brohawn@berkeley.edu
Silvia Bunge Professor HWNI, Psychology Faculty, ICBS Members

Neural mechanisms, development and plasticity of higher cognitive functions in humans. 

sbunge@berkeley.edu
Anne Collins Associate Professor Psychology Faculty, ICBS Members

Computational modeling of human learning, decision-making and executive functions. 

annecollins@berkeley.edu
Emily Cooper Assistant Professor Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science Faculty, ICBS Members

Computational modeling of visual perception. 

emilycooper@berkeley.edu
Mark D’Esposito Distinguished Professor HWNI, Psychology Faculty

Neural basis of high-level cognitive processes such as working memory and executive control. 

despo@berkeley.edu
Yang Dan Professor, Pivotal Life Sciences Chancellor's Chair in Neuroscience Neuroscience Faculty

Neural circuits controlling sleep and mechanisms of executive control. 

ydan@berkeley.edu
Michael DeWeese Professor Neuroscience, Physics Faculty

Neural mechanisms underlying auditory processing and selective attention in the cerebral cortex and artificial neural networks. 

deweese@berkeley.edu
Andrew Dillin Professor Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Genetic and molecular mechanisms regulating aging and aging-related disease. 

dillin@berkeley.edu
Gül Dölen Professor Neuroscience, Psychology Faculty

Psychedelics; Critical Periods; Octopus; Social Behaviors; Evolution; Synaptic Plasticity; Extracellular Matrix; Oxytocin, Stroke; Fragile X; Autism; PTSD; Addiction

David Feinberg Acting Professor Neuroscience Faculty

MRI technology development, mapping columnar and visual circuitry, modeling neurovascular coupling. 

david.feinberg@berkeley.edu
Daniel Feldman Professor, Coates Family Endowed Chair in Neuroscience Neuroscience Faculty

Sensory processing and plasticity in the somatosensory cortex. 

dfeldman@berkeley.edu
Marla Feller Professor Neuroscience Faculty

Functional development and organization of neural circuits in the retina. 

mfeller@berkeley.edu
Yvette Fisher Assistant Professor Neuroscience Faculty

Flexibility of neural circuits for spatial navigation. 

yfisher@berkeley.edu
John Flannery Professor Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science Faculty

Gene therapies for inherited retinal degenerations. 

flannery@berkeley.edu
David Foster Professor Neuroscience Faculty

Encoding of spatial memory and navigation toward rewards by neural ensembles in the hippocampus. 

davidfoster@berkeley.edu
Meng-meng Fu Assistant Professor Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Our lab goal is to understand glial function at the animal, cell, and molecular level in order to elucidate mechanisms of normal development and disease progression.

mengmengfu@berkeley.edu
Jack Gallant Professor, Co-director of the Brain Imaging Center (BIC) Neuroscience Faculty, ICBS Members, Resilience

Identifying cortical maps to discover how the brain represents information about the world and its own mental states. 

gallant@berkeley.edu
Andrea Gomez Assistant Professor Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Instructive cues for neural form and function. 

gomez@berkeley.edu
Corey Goodman Adjunct Professor HWNI Faculty

Translation of biomedical discoveries into therapeutics for human health. 

Lin He Professor Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Cilia biology, choroid plexus function in cerebrospinal fluid production. 

lhe@berkeley.edu
Ming Hsu Professor Haas School of Business Faculty

Neural basis of economic and consumer decision-making. 

mhsu@haas.berkeley.edu
James Hurley Professor Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Structural and biophysical basis of endomembrane mechanisms that contribute to neurodegenerative diseases. 

jimhurley@berkeley.edu
Ehud Isacoff Professor, Evan Rauch Chair in Neuroscience, Director of HWNI, Co-Director of The Weill Neurohub Neuroscience, Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty, Resilience

Mechanisms of ion channel function, synapse development, plasticity and neural circuit function. 

ehud@berkeley.edu
Richard Ivry Distinguished Professor Neuroscience, Psychology Faculty, ICBS Members

Cognition and action, with an emphasis on how people select actions, learn skills, and produce coordinated movements.

ivry@berkeley.edu
William Jagust Professor Neuroscience Faculty

Anatomic, biochemical, and neurochemical bases of brain aging and dementia. 

jagust@berkeley.edu
Na Ji Professor Neuroscience, Physics Faculty

Novel imaging methods to understand the brain. 

jina@berkeley.edu
Daniela Kaufer Professor, Co-director of the Berkeley Neuro AI Center for the Study of Resilience Neuroscience, Integrative Biology Faculty, ICBS Members, Resilience

Molecular mechanisms of brain plasticity in response to stress and neurological insults. 

danielak@berkeley.edu
Preeya Khanna Assistant Professor Neuroscience, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences Faculty

Neural basis of dexterous motor skills, neurotechnology for restoring and rehabilitating movement. 

pkhanna@berkeley.edu
Stanley Klein Professor Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science Faculty, ICBS Members

Psychophysical investigation of of visual processing and the role of perceptual learning, attention and binocular interactions.

sklein@berkeley.edu
Bob Knight Professor of the Graduate School Psychology Faculty, ICBS Members

 Neural coding underlying goal-directed behavior and development of brain-machine interfaces for motor and language prostheses. 

rtknight@berkeley.edu
Hedy Kober Professor Psychology Faculty

Craving, regulation of craving, substance use disorders, treatments for substance use and eating disorders, neural and psychological mechanisms of treatment, emotion regulation, mindfulness, meditation.

hedy@berkeley.edu
Richard Kramer Professor Neuroscience Faculty

Novel chemical reagents for non-invasive optical sensing and manipulation of ion channels and synapses.

rhkramer@berkeley.edu
Lance Kriegsfeld Professor Neuroscience, Psychology Faculty, Resilience

Brain and endocrine regulation of circadian rhythms

Kriegsfeld@berkeley.edu
Stephan Lammel Associate Professor Neuroscience Faculty

Midbrain dopamine circuits in reward-based behaviors and pathological changes in addiction, depression and schizophrenia. 

lammel@berkeley.edu
Markita Landry Associate Professor Neuroscience, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Faculty

Exploiting nanomaterials to probe and characterize complex biological systems at the nano-scale; nanosensors for brain chemistry. 

landry@berkeley.edu
Samantha Lewis Assistant Professor Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Mitochondrial biogenesis, mitochondrial genome inheritance, organelle assembly, DNA replication, cell metabolism, interactions between membrane-bound organelles. 

samlewis@berkeley.edu
Lexin Li Professor School of Public Health Faculty

Statistical neuroimaging analysis, brain connectivity analysis, imaging causal inference, multimodal and longitudinal imaging analysis, and imaging tensor regression. 

lexinli@berkeley.edu
Chunlei Liu Associate Professor, Co-director of the Brain Imaging Center (BIC) HWNI, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences Faculty

MRI technology development for the study of neural circuits and modulation. 

chunlei.liu@eecs.berkeley.edu
Ellen Lumpkin Professor Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Understanding force transduction mechanisms that initiate the senses of touch and pain. 

lumpkin@berkeley.edu
Evan Miller Associate Professor Chemistry, Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Development and application of molecular tools for studying neuroscience. 

evanwmiller@berkeley.edu
Bruno Olshausen Professor, Director of the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience (RCTN) Neuroscience, Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science Faculty, ICBS Members

Computational models of sensory coding and visual perception. 

baolshausen@berkeley.edu
James Olzmann Professor Molecular & Cell Biology, Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology Faculty

Cellular lipid homeostasis, oxidative lipid damage and cell death, neurodegeneration. 

olzmann@berkeley.edu
Steven Piantadosi Professor, Co-director of the Institute of Cognitive and Brain Science (ICBS) Psychology Faculty, ICBS Members

Understanding what computational processes support language acquisition, math learning, and general cognition. 

stp@berkeley.edu
Teresa Puthussery Associate Professor Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science Faculty

Processing of visual signals in the healthy and diseased retina.

tpu@berkeley.edu
Michael Rapé Professor Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Molecular mechanisms of cell fate decisions in development and disease. 

mrape@berkeley.edu
Austin Roorda Professor Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science Faculty

Development of adaptive optics to track, measure, and correct the eye's imperfections. 

aroorda@berkeley.edu
David Schaffer Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Faculty

Engineering stem cell and gene therapeutics. 

schaffer@berkeley.edu
Randy Schekman Professor Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

Membrane assembly, vesicular transport, and membrane fusion among organelles of the secretory pathway. 

schekman@berkeley.edu
Karthik Shekhar Assistant Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Faculty

Single-cell genomics and statistical inference. 

kshekhar@berkeley.edu
Amitai Shenhav Associate Professor Psychology Faculty

Neuroscience of motivation, decision-making, and cognitive control. 

amitai@berkeley.edu
Michael Silver Professor, Director of the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics (BCSP) Neuroscience, Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science Faculty, ICBS Members

 Neurophysiological and neurochemical substrates of human visual perception, attention, and learning. 

masilver@berkeley.edu
Friedrich Sommer Adjunct HWNI Faculty

Theoretical principles of learning and perception

fsommer@berkeley.edu
Mark Tanouye Professor Environmental Science, Policy & Management Faculty

Novel genetic approaches to study the causes of epilepsy and other nervous system disorders. 

tanouye@berkeley.edu
Rowland Taylor Professor Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science Faculty

Structure and function of neural circuits in the retina

Frédéric Theunissen Professor, Director of the Neuroscience PhD Program Neuroscience Faculty

Perception of complex sounds.

theunissen@berkeley.edu
Doris Tsao Professor, Nan Fung Life Sciences Faculty Scholar Neuroscience Faculty

Understanding how the brain builds a model of the visual world

dortsao@berkeley.edu
Matthew Walker Professor Psychology Faculty

The impact of sleep on human health and disease

mpwalker@berkeley.edu
Joni Wallis Professor, Equity Advisor Neuroscience Faculty

Neuronal mechanisms underlying high-level cognitive and behavioral processes

wallis@berkeley.edu
Kevin Weiner Associate Professor Neuroscience, Psychology Faculty

Models to explain how brain structure and function contribute to measurable behaviors (e.g. face perception)

kweiner@berkeley.edu
Noah Whiteman Professor Integrative Biology, Molecular & Cell Biology Faculty

The role of dietary toxins in shaping the evolution of the nervous system and implications for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders

whiteman@berkeley.edu
David Whitney Professor Psychology Faculty

Visual perception and attention. 

dwhitney@berkeley.edu
Linda Wilbrecht Professor Neuroscience, Psychology Faculty
Experience dependent plasticity and the development of circuits involved in value based decision making.
wilbrecht@berkeley.edu
Ke Xu Associate Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Faculty

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy to interrogate cellular processes at the nanoscale.

xuk@berkeley.edu
Michael Yartsev Associate Professor Neuroscience, Bioengineering Faculty

Neural basis of complex spatial and acoustic behaviors. 

myartsev@berkeley.edu
Jacob Yates Assistant Professor Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science Faculty

How populations of neurons in cortex encode the visual world, using statistical and machine learning models to understand neural activity and human perception, how information generated by eye movements is utilized by cortical circuits.

yates@berkeley.edu