The New York Academy of Sciences, Leon Levy Foundation Name First 10 Leon Levy Scholars in Neuroscience

The program supports exceptional young researchers from New York City’s five boroughs as they pursue innovative investigations in neuroscience.

New York, NY | June 14, 2023 — The New York Academy of Sciences and the Leon Levy Foundation announced today the first cohort of Leon Levy Scholars in Neuroscience; a continuation of an earlier fellowship program started by the Foundation in 2009 that has supported 160 fellows in neuroscience.

This highly regarded postdoctoral program supports exceptional young researchers across the five boroughs of New York City as they pursue innovative investigations in neuroscience and advance in their careers toward becoming independent principal investigators. Designed to broaden the field and to support researchers who might otherwise not have equal opportunity to secure postdoctoral funding, ten (10) scholars were selected for a three-year term from more than a dozen institutions across New York City that offer postdoctoral positions in neuroscience.

Honoring Leon Levy

“My husband, Leon, had a keen interest in studies of the brain after taking a psychology course as an undergraduate at City College of New York. He was fascinated by the minds of scientists,” said Shelby White, founding trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation. “We see these Leon Levy Scholars as the pathway to making great strides in neuroscience, so we are proud to support these gifted young researchers, providing them financial and career support, along with recognition, to advance their careers.”

“New York is an epicenter of neuroscience, with some of the best brain research being conducted in the United States,” said Nicholas Dirks, the Academy’s president and CEO. “Our distinguished jury selected 10 outstanding neuroscientists across the five boroughs conducting cutting-edge research. We are excited to be working with the Leon Levy Foundation to usher in this new group of young neuroscientists, providing guidance and financial support to encourage ground-breaking discoveries that will ultimately result in growth in this crucial field.”

The Scholars program features structured mentorship by distinguished senior scientists. Workshops will help Scholars with grant writing, as well as developing leadership, communications, and management skills. The programs will encourage networking, data sharing, cross-institutional collaboration and an opportunity for networking at an annual Leon Levy Scholars symposium.

The 2023 Leon Levy Scholars

• Thiago Arzua, Columbia University

Recognized for: How information about stressful events is encoded in the brain and how it can be passed through generations.

• Ana Badimon, The Rockefeller University

Recognized for: How contact system activation could affect the brain, and most notably the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease.

• Shai Berman, Columbia University

Recognized for: How the body’s physiological states—particularly hunger— affect value-based decision making.

• Cynthia Chai, Columbia University

Recognized for: Identifying the neural circuit and genetic elements that undergo the strongest selective pressures to enhance survival through the study of escape responses in closely-related fly species.

• Andrew Chang, New York University

Recognized for: How music and speech is perceived, processed and distinguished in the human brain and its relevance for individuals with communication disorders.

• Jonathan Gill, NYU Langone Health

Recognized for: Distinguishing the neural circuits that are correlated with odor identity and behavioral choice.

• Kelvin Q. Laracuente, NYU Langone Health

Recognized for: The neural circuitry of how we perceive visual social signals and how it relates to and integrates with other somatic sensory social input to shape social awareness.

• Pablo Lituma, Weill Cornell Medicine

Recognized for: The role of RNA regulation in non-neuronal brain cells and its impact on neuronal function.

• Brian Sweis, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Recognized for: Combining neuroeconomics and transcriptomics to examine decision-making dysfunction underlying regret processing in rodent stress models.

• Geoffrey Terral, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Recognized for Examining the morphology and connectivity of inhibitory neurons and subsequently, their functional ability to generate brainwaves.

About the Leon Levy Foundation

The Leon Levy Foundation continues and builds upon the philanthropic legacy of Leon Levy, supporting preservation, understanding, and the expansion of knowledge, with a focus on the ancient world, arts and humanities, nature and gardens, neuroscience, human rights, and Jewish culture. The Foundation was created in 2004 from Leon Levy’s estate by his wife, founding trustee Shelby White. To learn more, visit: leonlevyfoundation.org

For more information about the Scholarship program, contact: LeonLevy@nyas.org

Media contact: Kamala Murthy | Kmurthy@nyas.org