News and Events from and for the School of Science, Engineering and Technology at Brandeis University
In the September 10, 2025, issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, Shantanu Jadhav, Associate Professor of Psychology, along with Postdoctoral Associate Mingxin Ding, and former students Ryan Young (PhD, 2024) and Porter Tomsick (BS, 2024), published a study on the computational properties of the prefrontal cortex. Their research was featured as part of a special collection on the topic, and their article appeared on the cover. Congratulations to the Jadhav lab!
Yerbol Kurmangaliyev, Assistant Professor of Biology, has been awarded a biomedical science grant in the Pew Scholars Program. Yerbol is one of 22 researchers who will be exploring pressing topics from developing new strategies to prevent the spread of disease, to decoding how the brain evolves over time. These early-career scientists will receive four years of funding to uncover fundamental insights about human health and disease.
Congratulations to Yerbol!
The grants are awarded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. You can find further information here.
Christine Grienberger, Assistant Professor of Biology at Brandeis University’s School of Science, Engineering and Technology, was awarded a 2025 McKnight Scholar Award by the Board of Directors of the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience.
The McKnight Scholar Awards are granted to young scientists who are in the early stages of establishing their own independent laboratories and research careers and who have demonstrated a commitment to neuroscience. Since the award was introduced in 1977, this prestigious early-career award has funded 291 innovative investigators and spurred hundreds of breakthrough discoveries.
Congratulations to Christine!
“I think most people think of mentors in the traditional academic sense, and I am so thankful to be surrounded by many mentors in the Brandeis community who are continuously helping me grow technically and intellectually. But you can have mentors in all areas – a life mentor could be someone who’s not in science but who knows you as a person and is someone trustworthy who can help you figure out how to reach your potential. I am a firm believer that you can never have too many mentors!”
Molecular and Cell Biology PhD student Camille Sullivan co-founded the Brandeis University Mentoring Program (BUMP), and she shared how mentoring has influenced her life in “Geeking Out With…Camille Sullivan” a student profile series where Arts & Sciences graduate students talk about their passions.
Learn what inspired Camille to start the mentoring program, and how mentoring has helped her grow in science and life, technically and intellectually.
“Don’t blame yourself when things go wrong; just keep moving forward, and everything will all work out within six months before you graduate. The curiosity that drove you to do the PhD in the first place is something you should actively maintain – never lose the spark that keeps you interested in science.” -Will Dahl
Will Dahl, PhD’25, in Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB), shares about his graduate experience during COVID, meeting his fiancée, winning the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition in 2024, and starting his term as a postdoctoral fellow at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Read the full story here.
We’re excited to announce that Mikael Garabedian has been awarded the 2025 American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) Merton Bernfield Memorial Award award. The award was established to honor outstanding postdocs or graduate students with member donations in memory of pediatrician and cell biologist Merton Bernfield. Mikael was a doctoral student in Bruce Goode‘s laboratory in the department of Biology. He received his degree in 2019 and is now a postdoc at UPenn. Garabedian is presented this award for his remarkable work and dedication to the life sciences.
Anne Lazerson, Academic Administrator for the Division of Science Graduate Affairs Group, has received the Lou Ennis Award. This award is given each year to a full-time, exempt staff member who has demonstrated loyalty and dedication to the university and who has gone above and beyond the requirements of their job and has a history of consistent contributions to the university.
In her role as an Academic Administrator, Anne oversees admissions, academics, and student financials for several of the graduate programs within the Division of Science. She works with the Physics and Chemistry PhD and Master’s programs as well as Neuroscience and MCB Master’s programs.
Seth Fraden, Professor of Physics, noted “Thank you, Anne for all your help in recruiting the best students to Brandeis and then in helping us retain them by keeping all of us on track while they are studying at Brandeis. Your care and professionalism are much appreciated.”
Piali Sengupta, the Harold and Bernice Davis Chair in Aging and Neurodegenerative Disease, and Professor of Biology, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She joins eight other active Brandeis Division of Science faculty members (Carol Fierke, Jeff Gelles, James Haber, Dorothee Kern, Susan Lovett, Eve Marder, Michael Rosbash, and Gina Turrigiano) in receiving this honor.
In 2024, 250 people were elected to the Academy. Sengupta is one of ten individuals elected in the Neuroscience section of the Biological Sciences class.
Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is both an honorary society recognizing leaders in the arts and sciences, business, philanthropy, and public affairs and an independent research center studying issues that are important to the US and globally.
Writer/director Misha Chowdhury and his mother, Bulbul Chakraborty, the Enid and Nate Ancell Professor of Physics and Division Head, Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, have collaborated on a concert featuring Bangla music and the science of sand. The performance memoir titled “RHEOLOGY: In Concert” is part of the Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City India Week series.
“RHEOLOGY: In Concert” will be presented on July 14 at 5:00 PM at the Lincoln Center in New York City.
Rheology is the study of the flow of matter and a focus of Chakraborty’s research. “RHEOLOGY: In Concert” combines this science with another of Chakraborty’s loves – the songs of Bengali composer Rabindranath Tagore. This concert production blends reimagined Tagore compositions with the science of rheology.
James Haber, the Abraham and Etta Goodman Professor of Biology and Director of the Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Yeast Genetics Group during the Allied Genetics Conference’s annual meeting. The conference was held in Washington, DC from March 6 to 10, 2024.
The Allied Genetics Conference (TAGC), brings together scientists from multiple international biological research communities to share cutting-edge science, foster new collaborations, and strengthen existing relationships. The Yeast Community was one of eight communities that participated in the conference.
Haber was honored for his “lifetime contributions in the field of yeast genetics and outstanding community service”. Professor Haber was introduced by Gonen Memisoglu, one of his former graduate students.
Science at Brandeis 