Groundbreaking neurobiologist, Dr. Gina Turrigiano heads up the Turrigiano Lab in Brandeis University’s Biology Department. Dr. Turrigiano’s work focuses on brain plasticity. Our conversation covered a wide range of topics, including the following:

• How Dr. Turrigiano and her husband, electrophysiologist, Dr. Sasha Nelson, navigated the challenges involved in couples hiring at research institutions – especially when young children are in the mix;

• How Dr. Turrigiano’s undergraduate career as a biology major at Reed College led to a concentration in neurobiology;

• What “brain plasticity” means and how it applies to Dr. Turrigiano’s work;

• What homeostatic plasticity mechanisms are;

• Why Dr. Turrigiano thinks science is fun; and

• What Dr. Turrigiano’s life is like outside the lab.

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 a 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.

Episode Resources:

• Brandeis University Faculty

• Turrigiano Lab on Twitter/X

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