The Department

We are a cutting-edge, basic science department within the School of Medicine of the University of Pittsburgh. We are guided by principles of diversity, equity and inclusion in our overarching missions of research excellence, education and the training of the next generation of research scientists, innovators and educators.

We are working to identify novel and innovative strategies, leveraging and complementing ongoing efforts at the University, local and global levels to improve outreach and grow diversity in the neuroscience community of students, faculty and staff.

Our research goals are to:

Understand how the nervous system gives rise to behavior and thoughts.
Reveal the neurobiological mechanisms involved in neurological, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric diseases.

Our progress towards these goals provides fundamental insights into the human condition and promotes rapid discovery of novel treatments for devastating illnesses.

Our Research

Neurons are the fundamental units of the nervous system. Neurons connect to one another to form networks. The human brain contains an estimated 86 billion neurons with approximately 1014 connections between them. This staggering connectivity implies that massively distributed information processing occurs in the brain. Molecular processing, neurons, and networks are supported by numerous other cells that maintain the environment, provide structure, respond to injury, and facilitate fast information transfer.

To unravel the dizzying complexity of the brain, our research spans the entire spectrum of neuroscience – from high-level neural correlates of cognition down to the biophysics of ion channels. We address our research questions using in vivo and in vitro approaches, and a wide range of animal models from rodents to non-human primates.

Our research contributions are regularly disseminated in top-tier publications, prestigious lectures, and popular news sources.

Learn more about our research and our faculty members.

Four Research Centers

Our research focuses on auditory neuroscience, systems neuroscience, the neurobiology of pain, and neurodegenerative diseases.

These axes of research are embodied by 4 research centers within the department:

A Research and Training Hub within the Pittsburgh's Neuroscience Community

We integrate research and training efforts with neuroscience programs across campus forming a hub with other centers and departments:

Seminars and Distinguished Lecture Series

We hold regular Seminars throughout the academic year that feature prominent investigators from within and beyond the University of Pittsburgh/Carnegie-Mellon University community.

Our department also organizes a Distinguished Lecture Series in which we host leaders in the field for multiple days of meetings and talks.

Training and Education

Training the next generation of neuroscientists and building a diverse scientific community are top priorities for the Department. Our faculty have membership in many graduate training programs across the University of Pittsburgh campus that include the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh (CNUP), the Program in Neural Computation (PNC) and the Department of Bioengineering.

We teach several core graduate courses in neuroscience, including:

Foundations of Biomedical Sciences
Cell and Molecular Neurobiology
Systems Neurobiology

Learn more about our training opportunities.

We are also committed to advancing fundamental understanding of brain function and developing the next-generation of clinical tools. This website offers a summary of our activities. Individuals interested in more in-depth information should not hesitate to contact us or contact faculty members directly.

Administration

For any administrative enquiry please contact us or any of our administrative staff directly.

*Image from Donnelly Lab

* Front page: Lateral view of non-human primate brain (Scalable Brain Atlas)

School of Medicine Department of Neurobiology