Chrstine Grienberger (BIOL) was recently selected as a Pew Scholar for her work in Biomedical Sciences. This honor came as part of the Pew Scholars Program, an organization that provides financial support to “early-career, junior faculty whose scientific research offers promise to the advancement of human health.” As part of this honor, Prof. Grienberger will receive “$75,000 in research funding per year for a four-year period.” She is one of 22 honorees in the field of biomedical sciences for 2023, and will now have the opportunity “to meet annually with fellow Pew-funded scientists to exchange ideas and forge connections across a wide variety of disciplines.”

Grienberger’s research focuses on “the complex neural computations that drive experience-based learning.” Her lab uses “cutting-edge techniques for tracking and controlling neural activity while an animal is engaged in active learning,” and works to examine how “interactions between the cortex and the hippocampus instruct the hippocampus network in how to form memories.” She hopes that her work can be used to combat myriad conditions that impact learning and memory, including Alzheimer’s Disease.

The Grienberger Lab works to “combine experimental work and computational methods to understand the synaptic, cellular, and circuit-level computations that allow the brain to produce … complex adaptive behaviors.” The lab also uses “two-photon Ca2+ imaging, whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, and optogenetic perturbation of neuronal activity” to examine brain activity in mice who are engaged in “spatial memory” tasks.

Professor Grienberger has worked at Brandeis as an assistant professor in biology for over two years. In addition to being named a Pew Scholar, she was also recently awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship and works as an instructor at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.