Senior Leadership

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  Daphna Shohamy, PhD

  Kavli Professor of Brain Science; Director and CEO of Columbia's Zuckerman Institute; Codirector, Columbia's Kavli Institute for Brain Science

  Daphna Shohamy is Director and CEO of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. In this role, she oversees the scientific, financial and administrative management of the Institute. She is also working to establish and direct a new cognitive neuroscience center. In 2021, Columbia University named Dr. Shohamy to lead its Kavli Institute for Brain Science and appointed her Kavli Professor of Brain Science. She is a principal investigator at the Institute, a valued teacher and mentor in the Department of Psychology and a member of the training faculty for the Columbia Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior. She is also an important contributor to undergraduate education at Columbia, teaching the science of the brain and mind to the entire incoming class of college students as part of Columbia’s Core Frontiers of Science course.

  [email protected]

• Deputy Directors

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  Larry F. Abbott, PhD

  William Bloor Professor of Theoretical Neuroscience and Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics; Principal Investigator at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute; Codirector of Columbia's Kavli Institute for Brain Science
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  Gwyneth Card, PhD

  Gerald D. Fischbach, M.D. Professor of Neuroscience (in the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute); Chair, Department of Neuroscience

  [email protected]
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  Nathaniel Sawtell, PhD

  Professor of Neuroscience; Principal Investigator at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute
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  Daniel M. Wolpert, PhD

  Professor of Neuroscience; Principal Investigator at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute

• Administrative Leadership

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  Denise Gottwald

  Senior Director for Human Resources and Academic Affairs

  212-853-6668[email protected]
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  Barbara Han

  Executive Director of Building Operations

  Barbara Han is responsible for delivering a comprehensive facility service model to all faculty and staff at the Zuckerman Institute. She and her team serve as direct liaisons between researchers and departments across Columbia University to support a smooth and proficiently operated scientific research facility.

  Prior to joining the Institute, Han spent 29 years as the laboratory manager at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She has also spent nearly 20 years supervising the construction and renovation of lab spaces within Columbia University Medical Center. She received her bachelor’s in medical laboratory sciences from Hunter College School of Health Sciences and possesses two masters degrees; an MBA from Fordham University’s School of Business and an MPH from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

  212-851-4391[email protected]
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  Paige Lyne

  Chief Finance & Research Operations Officer

  As Chief Finance & Research Operations Officer (CFROO), Paige is a senior leader at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, providing strategic oversight of all administrative functions within the business enterprise. In this role, she is responsible for maintaining effective administrative operations that support a high-functioning, productive research environment. As CFROO, Paige works in close partnership with the Chief Programs & Strategic Initiatives Officer (CPSIO) and ensures the operational and financial infrastructure needed to launch, scale, and sustain the Institute's programmatic goals. 

  Before joining the Zuckerman Institute, Paige served in the finance departments at Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s Mailman School for Public Health, Columbia’s Center for the Study of Science & Religion and the Earth Institute. Prior to Columbia, she was a volunteer teacher in South Africa and worked at America’s Promise, a youth & community development nonprofit in Washington, DC. Paige received her bachelor’s in History from Georgetown University and an MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business.

  212-854-1050[email protected]
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  Jason McClellan

  Chief Programs and Strategic Initiatives Officer

  As Chief Programs & Strategic Initiatives Officer (CPSIO), Jason is a senior leader at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, responsible for shaping and executing the Institute's programmatic vision. In this role, he drives innovation, strategic positioning, and community building, while overseeing programs, events, communications, and IT services. Jason works in close partnership with the Chief Finance Research Operations Officer (CFROO) to advance the Institute's mission through strategic initiatives, cross-functional collaboration, and excellence in program delivery. 
   

  Before joining the Zuckerman Institute, Jason served at Washington University in St. Louis as Assistant Vice Chancellor of University Services, overseeing a wide-ranging portfolio of departments and initiatives. Over more than 25 years across higher education, industry, and government, he has built a strong track record of leading teams, strengthening organizations, and translating big-picture vision into meaningful results. He is equally known for his collaborative style, thoughtful leadership, and genuine investment in the people he works with.

  212-853-1052[email protected]
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  Melinda M. Miller, PhD

  Senior Director, Institute Programs and Outreach

  [email protected]
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  Darcy S. Peterka, PhD

  Senior Scientist; Principal Investigator; Director of Team Science; Scientific Director of Cellular Imaging

  Darcy Peterka is a Principal Investigator, the Director of Team Science and the Scientific Director of Cellular Imaging. His research spans neuroscience discovery, advanced imaging, neurotechnology and data science. Through the Team Science program, he works to drive groups toward ambitious and vanguard science. He brings interdisciplinary expertise and resources together, accelerating scientific discovery across the institute while also creating the institutional capabilities needed for the next generation of neuroscience research.

   

   

  212-853-1124[email protected]
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  Tanya Tabachnik

  Senior Director, Scientific Platforms, Shared Resources and Advanced Instrumentation

  Tanya Tabachnik’s department creates new technologies that marry imagination and engineering in order to empower scientists to answer fundamental questions about living systems and how the brain works. Her hand-picked team designs and develops solutions that are elegant, efficient and cost-effective. She and her team have built everything from a device that maps the steps of a fruit fly to materials that function inside the brain without harming it. Bringing to life new tools that drive cutting-edge research requires more than clever engineering. Her team's innovations start with the close relationships being built with clients. They have experience translating the needs of researchers and shaping their dreams into workable plans for success.

  Tanya comes to the Zuckerman Institute from Janelia Farm Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where she led and managed the Mechanical Engineering and Fabrication Department. In that capacity, she and her team designed and customized scientific instruments and tools for neuroscience research. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Engineering from Moscow State Technological University.

  212-853-0472[email protected]
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  Arthur Uhimov

  Executive Director, Pre-Award and Strategic Research Development

  212-853-1435[email protected]
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  Amy Weil

  Senior Director Communications

  The Zuckerman Institute Communications team is dedicated to sharing the extraordinary research and discoveries at the Institute with broad audiences. Amy Weil manages the creation of tailored communications strategies that explore and explain the Institute’s groundbreaking science. Amy and her team work closely with Institute scientists and staff to create written content and multimedia, including videos and infographics, to convey the urgency and excitement of the brain science research at the Institute.

  212-851-4393[email protected]