Regular biography
Brandon (Brady) Weissbourd is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, affiliated with the Department of Biology and the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. He holds the Doherty Professorship in Ocean Utilization and is an Investigator at the Picower Institute. Weissbourd uses the jellyfish Clytia hemisphaerica to study nervous system evolution, development, regeneration, and function. His research integrates systems neuroscience with genetic and optical techniques to explore how behavior arises from neuronal networks. He also investigates the robustness of the Clytia nervous system to injury and its evolutionary implications.
Scholar-generated biography
Brandon Weissbourd is a researcher at MIT, focusing on the neural circuits and genetic mechanisms underlying behavior, sleep, and sensory processing. His work integrates advanced imaging, single-cell RNA sequencing, and computational methods to dissect complex neural systems. Weissbourd's research spans vertebrate and invertebrate models, including mice and jellyfish, to explore how neural circuits are organized and function. His studies address topics such as noradrenaline circuits, sleep-wake regulation, and the evolution of nervous systems. By combining molecular, anatomical, and functional approaches, Weissbourd contributes to understanding the genetic and neural basis of behavior and neural development.