Dr. Gina Turrigiano is the Joseph Levitan Professor of Vision Science in the Biology Department at Brandeis University, where she heads the Turrigiano Lab.
Dr. Turrigiano completed her undergraduate studies at Reed College, and her PhD at the University of California, San Diego, before moving to Massachusetts for her post-doctoral work at Brandeis. Publishing on an variety of topics in neuroscience since 1997, Dr. Turrigiano has long focused her research on brain plasticity. Recent research furthers the understanding of homeostatic plasticity mechanisms through studying sleep-wake cycles, and the results of her research include advancements in understanding how so-called self-tuning mechanisms relate to brain disorders like epilepsy and autism.
Dr. Turrigiano’s work has been recognized with fellowships from the MacArthur foundation and Sloan foundation, and awards from the McKnight foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Human Frontier Science Program Organization. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the President of the Society of Neuroscience, Dr. Turrigiano is a groundbreaking researcher working at the leading edge of neuroscience.
About the series: The Life of Her Mind is dedicated to learning about how women think about their careers, disciplines, and future. Each episode focuses on a single professional working in or around the sciences, with an eye toward uncovering what makes each individual’s contributions unique.
The series is hosted by Labroots Science Writer Mia Wood, Ph.D., a philosophy professor and writer living and working at the intersection of philosophy and everything else. Among her relevant interests are the philosophy of early modern science, the nature of consciousness, and personal identity.