2016 Presidential Scholars Announced

June 14, 2016

This July, the Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience program will welcome its second cohort of Presidential Scholars. The three incoming postdoctoral scholars were selected from a highly competitive pool of more than 130 applicants from a variety of backgrounds and fields of research.

Scholars were selected based on their comprehensive, multidisciplinary knowledge and novel research proposals. The selection process was a cross-disciplinary effort, with 30 faculty members participating in the proposal review and on-campus interviews from the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Columbia University Medical Center, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, School of Journalism, School for International and Public Affairs, Teachers College, New York State Psychiatric Institute, and Barnard College.

Scholars will confirm at least two faculty mentors from different departments who will help to guide and support their independent research. The Scholars also help to organize the PSSN Seminars in Society and Neuroscience series, which will start up again in the fall.

Matteo Farinella

  • Cartoonist, Science Communicator
  • PhD (2013) University College of London, Computational Neuroscience
  • Proposal Title: Visual Narratives for Science Communication

Nori Jacoby

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • PhD (2015) the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Computational Neuroscience
  • Proposal Title: The Cultural Foundations of Auditory Processing

Lan A. Li

  •  PhD (2016) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, History of Science and Medicine
  • Proposal Title: Visible Physiologies: Mapping Peripheral Sensation and Technologies of Touch