Venki Murthy

I was born and grew up in southern India. After completing my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, I came to the US for graduate work. In graduate school at the University of Washington (Seattle), my interests gravitated towards neuroscience and I obtained a Ph.D. in Physiology & Biophysics. Postdoctoral work at the Salk Institute cemented my interests in neuroscience and I came to Harvard in 1999 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology. I am currently a Professor in, and the Chair of, that department and a member of the Center for Brain Science at Harvard. My current research interests center on the neural circuits and behavior, with a fondness for the sense of smell. I am closely involved in Harvard college teaching, particularly in neuroscience and its relation to AI. I was the Head Tutor of the Neuroscience concentration for 6 years and am currently the Chair of the Biophysics graduate program at Harvard. Beyond Harvard, I am also keenly interested in teaching and research initiatives that link Harvard and India (working closely with the Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard). Research website: http://vnmurthylab.org