RANDY BRUNO RECEIVES $15,000 YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD
SAN DIEGO —The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) has presented the Young Investigator Award to Randy M. Bruno, PhD, of Columbia University. Established in 1983 and supported by AstraZeneca, the award includes $15,000 and recognizes the outstanding achievements and contributions by a young neuroscientist who has recently received his or her advanced professional degree. The award was presented during Neuroscience 2013, SfN’s annual meeting and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.
“Dr. Bruno’s innovative approach to the study of the sensory cortex is yielding groundbreaking insights into brain function,” said Larry Swanson, PhD, president of SfN. “The society is pleased to honor his achievements thus far, and to have this opportunity to support his future endeavors.”
Bruno is interested in how sensory information is processed by the brain to generate representations of the external world. He has uncovered new details about how information is transmitted from the thalamus (a brain region that receives sensory information) to the neocortex (a part of the brain that is involved in higher functions such as sensory perception). Through innovative recording and imaging techniques, Bruno has raised new questions about the neural circuitry of the neocortex that has been the foundation for studies of sensory processing and higher brain functioning over the past 50 years.
Bruno earned his PhD at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Max Planck Institute for Medical Research. He is currently an assistant professor of neuroscience at Columbia University.
The Society for Neuroscience is an organization of nearly 42,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system.