Mika Salpeter

Miriam Salpeter ( Mark; April 8, 1929 – October 24, 2000) was a Latvian-born American academic. As professor of neurobiology at Cornell University, she developed quantitative electron microscopic autoradiography as a means to investigate the neuromuscular junction. The Society for Neuroscience created the Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award in her honour.

Early life and education Salpeter was born in Riga. Her father was a Yiddish scholar and Salpeter was fluent in Yiddish.

Research and career Neurobiology was an emerging field at the start of Salpeter's research career, and she decided to concentrate her efforts on the neuromuscular junction. Salpeter did not let this atmosphere faze her, and continued her research as a non-faculty member. In 1967 Salpeter was recruited to the Cornell University Section of Neurobiology and Behavior. Here she worked in the laboratory of Benjamin Siegel and was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Awards and honours The Society for Neuroscience created the Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award in her honour.

Her awards and honours include:

Society for Neuroscience Patricia Goldman-Rakic Hall of Honor Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science