The newly established Center for Theoretical & Computational Neuroscience at Washington University is pleased to announce the first recipient of a CTCN postdoctoral fellowship. Leandro Fosque comes to WashU from Indiana University, where he earned his PhD in physics. Emphasizing CTCN’s multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to research, the fellowship provides joint mentorship by two or more CTCN-affiliated faculty members. Fosque will conduct research in the lab of Keith Hengen, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology, and a theoretical group.
“It’s an amazing program that you can work in multiple labs at the same time,” Fosque said of the fellowship. “What I like the most about WashU is that it’s quite interdisciplinary. You have people from dynamical systems, from neuroscience, who are very diverse and working on very different projects and yet are really collaborative.”
Fosque is interested in the brain’s ability to respond to changes and withstand environmental perturbation. For instance, how does the brain return to baseline activity after a seizure? How does it transition from sleep to wake and back again? In graduate school, Fosque explored the idea that the brain might exist in a quasicritical state, in which cellular networks transmit information in a near-optimal fashion, despite constant input and noise. For his postdoctoral work, Fosque will investigate the mechanisms driving homeostasis through experimental and theoretical approaches.
“The fellowship aims to partner exceptionally smart and creative postdocs, who are well-trained in disciplines like mathematics, physics and engineering, with pairs of WashU faculty to solve some of the most difficult current problems in neuroscience and artificial intelligence that require a truly interdisciplinary perspective,” said Geoff Goodhill, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology and Director of the CTCN. “Leandro is an excellent addition to WashU’s CTCN community with his expertise in both physics and theoretical neuroscience.”
Learn more about the CTCN’s postdoctoral fellowship program »