2023-Pradel-Zeng
Hongkui Zeng, Allen Institute for Brain Science, received the 2023 Pradel Research Award.
Zeng has elevated our understanding of cell types and their connections in the mammalian brain through her research on how different neuronal types work together to process and transform visual information.
Zeng’s groundbreaking contributions have led to a better understanding of neuronal diversity and neural circuits. Her research includes the development of transgenic mouse lines for marking and manipulating specific neuronal types; analysis of connectivity among brain areas with particular emphasis on connections between thalamus and cortex; and the use of single cell molecular methods to classify and characterize neurons and non-neuronal cells in cortex and other parts of the brain.
Zeng is the Director of the Allen Institute for Brain Science where she leads the creation of large-scale, open-access datasets and tools instrumental to accelerating neuroscience discovery. She has organized and led multidisciplinary teams to build the Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas, the Common Coordinate Framework (CCF), and the transcriptomic and multimodal cell type taxonomy, which have been widely held as high-quality standards in the field.
The Pradel Research Award is presented annually to recognize mid-career neuroscientists whose work is making major contributions to our understanding of the nervous system. The award is presented with a $50,000 research award to designate to an institution of the recipient's choice to support neuroscience research.
