Larry Abbott

Laurence Frederick Abbott (born 1950) is an American theoretical neuroscientist, who is currently the William Bloor Professor of Theoretical Neuroscience at Columbia University, where he helped create the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience. He is widely regarded as one of the leaders of theoretical neuroscience, and is coauthor, along with Peter Dayan, on the first comprehensive textbook on theoretical neuroscience, which is considered to be the standard text for students and researchers entering theoretical neuroscience. He helped invent the dynamic clamp method alongside Eve Marder.

Abbott has received numerous awards for his work in the field, including memberships in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2010, he received the Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience. In 2022 he was awarded the Gruber Neuroscience Prize. In 2024, he was awarded The Brain Prize for contributions to theoretical neuroscience, alongside Terrence Sejnowski and Haim Sompolinsky.

Biography Abbott attended Oberlin College from 1968 to 1971, where he received a bachelor's degree in physics. Abbott began his transition to neuroscience research in 1989, joined the Department of Biology at Brandeis in 1993, and was the co-director of Brandeis Sloan Center for Theoretical Neurobiology from 1994 to 2002, the director of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems at Brandeis from 1997 to 2002, and a visiting faculty at UCSF Sloan Center for Theoretical Neuroscience from 1994 to 2002. He has been a senior fellow at HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus since 2015. Swartz Prize Israel Brain Technologies' Mathematical Neuroscience Prize. Member, Kavli Institute for Brain Science Member of the Motor Neuron Center, Columbia University Senior Fellow, HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science Steering Committee, Safra Center for Brain Sciences, Hebrew University Scientific Advisory Panel, Gatsby Unit, UCL Advisory Council for Physics Department, Princeton University Scholars Selection Committee, McKnight Foundation Mindscope Advisory Council, Allen Institute for Brain Science Scientific Advisory Board, Champalimaud Neuroscience Program Brain and Cognitive Sciences Visiting Committee, MIT Scientific and Academic Advisory Committee, Weizmann Institute Executive Committee, Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain

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