ZI K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Awardees
May 2026 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Stefano Fusi, Attila Losonczy
1K99NS148806-01: Dissecting the synaptic and molecular mechanisms of cell-type-specific memory computation in hippocampal CA3
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
April 2026 - NIMH K99/R00
Mentors: Richard Axel, Larry Abbott
K99MH142674-01: Cellular and circuit mechanisms underlying the generation, regulation, and flexibility of value representations in mouse medial prefrontal cortex
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
January 2026 - NIGMS K99/R00
Mentors: Andres Bendesky, Kiran Soma (University of British Columbia)
1K99GM159103-01: Molecular causes and physiological and behavioral consequences of extreme glucocorticoid levels in Peromyscus mice
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
January 2026 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Darcy Peterka, Rui Costa (Allen Institute & Columbia), Franck Polleux
K99NS144613-01: A Synaptic Basis for Dopamine-Driven Reinforcement Learning in Cortex
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
August 2025 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Ken Miller, Liam Paninski, Karel Svoboda (Allen Institute)
K99NS144599-01: Computational Approaches for Understanding Multi-Area Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Memory-Guided Movements
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
December 2024 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Mark Churchland, Mike Shadlen, Ashok Litwin-Kumar
K99NS140554-01: Neural population geometry and dynamics underlying multi-step cognitive-motor sequencing
Current position: Assistant Professor, Neuroscience Institute and Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (lab website here)
August 2024 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Stefano Fusi, Roozbeh Kiani (NYU)
K99NS138578-01: The Role of Functional Modularity in the Neural Code Underlying Contextual Behavior
Current position: Assistant Professor, Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Department of Neurosurgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA (lab website here)
April 2024 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Dmitriy Aronov, Larry Abbott
K99NS136846-01: Hippocampal Mechanisms of Episodic Memory Recall and their Contribution to Naturalistic Navigation Decisions
Current position: Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA (lab info here)
February 2024 - BRAIN Initiative/NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Liam Paninski, Hillel Adesnik (UC Berkeley), Adam Cohen (Harvard)
K99NS135649-01: Computational Methods for Precise Holographic Control and Mapping of Neural Circuits
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA (lab website here)
December 2023 - NIMH K99/R00
Mentors: Stefano Fusi, Steve Siegelbaum, Ueli Rutishauser (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)
K99MH135166-01: Investigating the neural mechanisms of social memory in the hippocampal-cortical network
Current position: Principal Investigator, Paris Brain Institute (ICM), Paris, France (lab website here)
September 2023 - MOSAIC/NIMH K99/R00
Mentors: Tom Maniatis
K99MH132889-01A1: The role of the protocadherin gene cluster in neurodevelopment and the implications for neurodevelopmental disorders
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
August 2023 - NIGMS K99/R00
Mentors: Andres Bendesky, Franck Polleux
K99GM151689-01: Genetics and neurobiology of aggression of Betta splendens
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
August 2023 - NEI K99/R00
Mentors: Ken Miller, Larry Abbott
K99EY035357-01: Computational and theoretical understanding of regulatory mechanisms shaping natural vision
Current position: AI Architect, IBM
July 2023 - MOSAIC/NIGMS K99/R00
Mentors: Daniel Salzman, Steve Siegelbaum
K99GM153720-01: Dissecting the synaptic and circuit mechanisms underlying olfactory-driven social behavior
Current position: Associate Research Scientist, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
July 2023 - MOSAIC/NIMH K99/R00
Mentors: Daphna Shohamy, Stefano Fusi
K99MH133994-01: Computational and neurodevelopmental mechanisms of memory-guided decision-making
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA (lab website here)
July 2023 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Daniel Salzman, Stefano Fusi, Mark Churchland
K99NS133475-01: Elucidating the Neural Computations Underlying Spatial Learning, Decision-Making and Generalization in Virtually-Navigating Monkeys
Current position: Assistant Professor, Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA (lab website here)
July 2023 - MOSAIC/NIDCD K99/R00
Mentors: Stavros Lomvardas
K99DC021219-01: Identifying the mechanism of olfactory receptor gene regulation in olfactory neurons with live-cell imaging
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
April 2023 - BRAIN Initiative/NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Dmitriy Aronov, Larry Abbott
K99NS131256-01: Probing form and function of memory representations in the hippocampus of memory expert birds
Current position: Co-founder & Senior Research Scientist; leads the Collaborative Intelligent Systems group, Basis Research Institute, New York, NY, USA (lab website here)
April 2023 - BRAIN Initiative K99/R00 (not accepted due to Amy's change in position)
Mentors: Andres Bendesky, Liam Paninski, Darcy Kelley
Proposed project: Probing the molecular and neural mechanisms of sexually dimorphic aggression in the Siamese fighting fish Betta splendens
Current position: Scientific Officer, SFARI and Neuroscience Collaborations, Simons Foundation, New York, NY, USA
January 2023 - BRAIN Initiative/NEI K99/R00
Mentors: Dmitriy Aronov, Larry Abbott, Elizabeth Buffalo
K99EY034700-01: Processing of visual information by spatial memory circuits in the avian brain
Current position: Assistant Professor of Neural Science and Psychology, Center for Neural Science and Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA (lab website here)
January 2023 - NIMH K99/R00
Mentors: Attila Losonczy, Stefano Fusi
K99MH129565-01A1: Dissecting the functional organization of local hippocampal circuits underlying spatial representations
Current position: Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT (lab website here)
August 2022 - NIMH K99/R00
Mentors: Liam Paninski, Attila Losonczy, Oliver Hobert
K99MH128772-01A1: Transcriptional basis of stereotyped neural architectures
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the Tandon School of Engineering, New York University, New York, NY (lab website here)
July 2022 - BRAIN Initiative/NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Attila Losonczy, Franck Polleux
K99NS127815-01: Defining the circuit, synaptic, and molecular mechanisms linking intracellular Ca2+ release to learning using subcellularly-targeted manipulations and imaging techniques in dendrites in vivo
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO (lab website here)
July 2022 - BRAIN Initiative/NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Rui Costa, Elizabeth Hillman
K99NS127857-01: Dissection of Cell Type Specific Contributions to Motor Learning Circuits
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Neurobiology, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA (lab website here)
July 2022 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Rui Costa, Liam Paninski
K99NS128250-01: Connectivity principles underlying network dynamics and learning
Current position: Senior Scientist, Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, Seattle, WA, USA
April 2022 - BRAIN Initiative/NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Rui Costa, Daniel Wolpert
K99NS126307-01: Dissecting the role of cortico-basal ganglia circuit diversity in action learning from reinforcement
Current position: Assistant Professor, Institute for Translational Neuroscience, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, USA (lab website here)
September 2021 - NIMH K99/R00
Mentors: Larry Abbott, John Cunningham
K99MH126158-01A1: Neural dynamics and substrates of graphical knowledge
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
December 2020 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Rui Costa, Hyungbae Kwon
K99NS119788-01: Action-specific dissecting of basal ganglia: from the classical model to diverse action-specific subcircuits
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX
December 2020 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Liam Paninski, John Cunningham, Mark Churchland
K99NS119787-01: Interpretable machine learning for understanding the neural control of movement
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA (lab website here)
August 2020 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Rui Costa, Mark Churchland
K99NS118053-01: Coordination of Structure and Function in Corticospinal and Corticostriatal Pathways
Current position: Assistant Professor, Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA (lab website here)
June 2020 - NIDCD K99/R00
Mentors: Nima Mesgarani, Niko Kriegeskorte
1K99DC018051-01A1: Revealing the organization and functional significance of neural timescales in auditory cortex
Current position: Associate Professor, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA (lab website here)
April 2020 - NIMH K99/R00
Mentors: Steve Siegelbaum, György Buzsáki
1K99MH122582-01: Hippocampal-subcortical interactions underlying social memory
Current position: Assistant Professor, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA (lab website here)
April 2020 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Franck Polleux, Attila Losonczy
1K99NS115984-01: Exploring new roles of Robo2 in synaptic development, plasticity and hippocampal circuit function
Current position: Director of Preclinical Strategy & Scientific Programs, Moonwalk Biosciences, CA, USA
March 2020 - BRAIN Initiative/NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Mark Churchland, Larry Abbott
1K99NS115919-01: Characterizing the structure of motor cortex activity across multiple behaviors for improved brain-machine interfaces
Current position: Chief Operating Officer, Basis Research Institute, New York, NY, USA (website here)
December 2019 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Larry Abbott, Rui Costa
1K99NS114194-01: Reinforcement learning and action sequencing in subcortical and cortical circuits
Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA (lab website here)
June 2019 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Rui Costa, Stefano Fusi
1K99NS112575-01: Dissecting the action learning process with dopaminergic reinforcement
Current position: Principal Investigator, Center for Integrative Brain Research, Seattle Children's, Seattle, WA, USA (lab website here)
April 2019 - BRAIN Initiative/NIDA K99/R00
Mentors: C. Daniel Salzman, Stefano Fusi
1K99DA048748-01: Neural signatures of learning complex environments in the amygdala-prefrontal network
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (website here)
September 2018 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Franck Polleux, Rui Costa
1K99NS109323-01: The role of the human-specific gene SRGAP2C in regulating neuronal circuit function and behavior
Current position: Assistant Professor, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA (lab website here)
September 2018 - NIMH K99/R00
Mentors: Rui Costa, Stefano Fusi
1K99MH118412-01: The role of dopaminergic and noradrenergic signaling in exploratory and exploitative behavioral states
Current position: Consultant, Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
July 2018 - NINDS K99/R00
Mentors: Rui Costa, Stefano Fusi
1K99NS107721-01: Dissecting the role of dorsomedial striatal circuitries in action selection during spatial exploration
Current position: Senior Director, Head of Global Project Management, H. Lundbeck A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark