Krubitzer Receives "Genius" Award
Leah Krubitzer, assistant professor of psychology and member of the Center for Neuroscience, received a 1998 MacArthur Fellowship for $240,000 from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She was one of 29 people chosen nationwide to receive the fellowship, popularly known as “genius” awards because of the caliber of the winners and their work. The award money may be spent in any way the winner chooses.
Photo: “Genius”-award winner Leah Krubitzer (right) humorously explains the differences among animal brain abilities to Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef (second from left) and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Robert Grey (far left) during a June reception in her honor at the Center for Neuroscience.
Krubitzer, who joined the Center for Neuroscience in 1995, studies the evolution of the brain’s neocortex. She uses anatomical and physiological techniques to map areas of the cortex that respond to the external stimuli of touch and vision. She then compares cortical function across species that represent major lines of evolution. Through this comparative approach, Krubitzer hopes to understand the mechanisms that generate complex brains. The MacArthur Foundation noted that her research provided new insights into the development of the cerebral cortex and the evolutionary forces driving brain adaptation.
Sally Mendoza, chair of psychology, says Krubitzer’s research is unique. “She takes a comparative and evolutionary approach to understanding how the cerebral cortex is organized and processes information, working with everything from the Australian platypus to rhesus monkeys in India.”
Krubitzer was surprised and deeply honored to receive the MacArthur Fellowship, but downplayed her role, saying she benefited from past research and, primarily, her “fantastic” laboratory staff. She sees her work as part of a scientific continuum: “People who discover things stand on the shoulders of researchers who came before them, and I like to think I’m part of those shoulders.”
UC Davis Biological Sciences Newsletter - Summer 1998