JILL K. LEUTGEB

About

Jill Leutgeb received her Ph.D. in Neurophysiology from the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Germany, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Norway, in the lab of Nobel laureates May-Britt and Edvard Moser. She received the prestigious Young Researcher Prize from the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters in recognition of her postdoctoral research. Dr. Leutgeb joined UC San Diego in 2008 and is now a Professor in the Neurobiology Section of the Division of Biological Sciences. She is also a member of the Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, and the Traumatic Brain Injury Team of the Kavli Institute of Brain and Mind, UC San Diego. Dr. Leutgeb was awarded the Ray Thomas Edwards Foundation Early Career Award, Hellman Fellow, the Walter F. Heiligenberg endowed Professorship in Neuroethology, and is a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study Berlin (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin).

Research Objective

Our research is focused on understanding neural circuit computations which underlie learning and memory. In addition, we also investigate how the function of memory circuits is altered in the development and expression of acquired epilepsies. Our laboratory combines high-density electrophysiology with behavioral testing, theoretical modeling, and pharmacological and molecular manipulations as a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the neural basis of cognition. By understanding the biological basis of memory in health and its dysfunction in disease, the long-term research goals of our laboratory are to develop new therapeutic approaches for restoring memory loss and for seizure prediction, intervention, or prevention.