Overview
What makes us intelligent? How do the hundred billion cells in our brain give rise to speech, music, and athletic performance, and how does this process break down in disease? Just as fixing a computer requires a mental model of how its parts work together, treating brain disorders will require understanding the fundamental principles by which the brain develops, learns, and maintains its function over time.
Our lab works to identify these fundamental principles. In close collaboration with experimentalists, we devise new methods for distilling scientific hypotheses from large and complex data sets, and we build AI-driven systems that adapt experiments to incoming data in real time. Our ultimate goal is to produce theories that allow both scientists and clinicians to reason about brain function, understand existing data, and devise new treatments.
Our lab works to identify these fundamental principles. In close collaboration with experimentalists, we devise new methods for distilling scientific hypotheses from large and complex data sets, and we build AI-driven systems that adapt experiments to incoming data in real time. Our ultimate goal is to produce theories that allow both scientists and clinicians to reason about brain function, understand existing data, and devise new treatments.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Associate Professor of Neurobiology
·
2025 - Present
Neurobiology,
Basic Science Departments
Assistant Research Professor in Neurobiology
·
2018 - Present
Neurobiology,
Basic Science Departments
Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
·
2018 - Present
Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
·
2021 - Present
Psychology & Neuroscience,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience
·
2016 - Present
Center for Cognitive Neuroscience,
Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
Recent Publications
Dual neuromodulatory dynamics underlie birdsong learning.
Journal Article Nature · May 2025 Although learning in response to extrinsic reinforcement is theorized to be driven by dopamine signals that encode the difference between expected and experienced rewards1,2, skills that enable verbal or musical expression can be learned without extrinsic ... Full text Link to item CiteFrontal eye field neurons predict “anti-Bayesian” but not Bayesian judgments of visual stability across saccades
Preprint · 2025 Full text CiteVocalization modulates the mouse auditory cortex even in the absence of hearing.
Journal Article Cell Rep · August 27, 2024 Vocal communication depends on distinguishing self-generated vocalizations from other sounds. Vocal motor corollary discharge (CD) signals are thought to support this ability by adaptively suppressing auditory cortical responses to auditory feedback. One c ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Neurobiology Training Program
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029Duke University Psychiatry Physician-Scientist Residency Training Program
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institute of Mental Health · 2024 - 2029Neurocognitive mechanisms of control over cognitive stability and flexibility
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Mental Health · 2023 - 2028View All Grants
Education, Training & Certifications
Princeton University ·
2004
Ph.D.
University of Kentucky ·
1999
B.S.