Robert Desimone

Short Biography

Robert Desimone is director of the McGovern Institute and the Doris and Don Berkey Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Prior to joining the McGovern Institute in 2004, he was director of the Intramural Research Program at the National Institutes of Mental Health, the largest mental health research center in the world. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a recipient of numerous awards, including the Troland Prize of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Golden Brain Award of the Minerva Foundation.

Email: desimone@mit.edu
Assistant: 617-324-2077

Education

PhD in Psychology/Neuroscience, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 1979
BA in Psychology, summa cum laude, Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1974

Employment

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Doris and Don Berkey Professor of Neuroscience, 2008 – present
Director, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, 2004 – present
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, 2004 – present

National Institute of Mental Health

Scientific Director and Head of Intramural Program, 1998 – 2004
Chief, Laboratory of Neuropsychology, 1997 – 2004
Chief, Section on Behavioral Neurophysiology, Laboratory of Neuropsychology, 1992 – 2004
Research Psychologist (tenured), Laboratory of Neuropsychology, 1987 – 2004
Senior Staff Fellow, Laboratory of Neuropsychology, 1982 – 1987
Staff Fellow, Laboratory of Neuropsychology, 1980 – 1982

Princeton University

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology, 1979 – 1980
Teaching Assistant, Department of Psychology, 1974 – 1977

Honors, Elected Positions, Fellowships

Helmholtz Prize, International Neural Network Society, 2009
Fellow, Association for Psychological Science, 2007
Outstanding Mentor Award, Asian and Pacific Americans DHHS Employee Association, 2004
Recognition Award, NIH Hispanic Employees Association, 2002
Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2001
Member, National Academy of Sciences, 1999
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1999
Member, Nominating Committee, AAAS Section on Neuroscience, 1997 – 2000
Member, Society of Experimental Psychologists, 1997
Associate, Neuroscience Research Institute, La Jolla, California, 1994 – 2002
Golden Brain Award of the Minerva Foundation, 1994
US Public Health Service Superior Service Award, 1994
Distinguished Alumnus Award, Macalester College, 1994
Fleming Award of the Downtown Jaycees for Scientific Achievement and Service, 1991
Troland Prize, National Academy of Sciences, 1990
ADAMHA Administrator’s Award for Meritorious Achievement, 1990
National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1979 – 1980
Charlotte Procter Graduate Fellowship, Princeton University, 1978 – 1979
National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1974 – 1977
Honors in Psychology, Macalester College, 1974
Phi Beta Kappa, 1973
National Merit Scholar, 1970 – 1973

Societies

Society for Neuroscience
American Psychological Society

Editorial Boards

Editorial Board, PNAS, 2008 – present
Editorial Board, Neuron, 2001 – present
Associate Editor, Biological Psychiatry, 2006 – present
Board of Reviewing Editors, Science, 1993 – present
Deputy Editor, Behavioral Neuroscience, 1995 – 1998
Associate Editor, Journal of Neuroscience, 1988 – 1995
Consulting Editor, Behavioral Neuroscience, 1989 – 1994
Advisory Editorial Board, Network, 1988 – 1998
Editorial Board, Visual Neuroscience, 1989 -1992

Service Activities

Board of Directors, McGovern/IDG Institutes, Beijing, 2012 – present
One Mind for Research Scientific Advisory Board, 2011 – present
Lindsley Prize Selection Committee, Society for Neuroscience, 2012 – present
Committee on Committees, Society for Neuroscience, 2011 – present
Scientific Council, DANA Alliance, 2006 – present
Ad hoc reviewer, NIMH, NINDS, NEI, and NSF study sections, 1991 – present
Network co-director, Macarthur Law and Neuroscience Project, 2008 – 2010
National Advisory Mental Health Council, NIMH, 2008 – 2011
MIT Committee on Animal Care, 2007 – 2012
Society for Neuroscience Communications Committee, 2007 – 2009
Scientific Council, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), 2003 – 2006
Troland Award Selection Committee, National Academy of Sciences, 1999 – 2000
Board of Directors, MIND Institute, Albuquerque, NM, 1999 – 2006
Lindsley Prize Selection Committee, Society for Neuroscience, 1995 – 1997
Councilor, Society for Neuroscience, 1995
Review Committee for Fellowships, Human Frontiers Science Program Organization, 1993 – 1996
Communications Committee, Society for Neuroscience, 1993 – 1997
Board of Visitors, Office of Naval Research, 1993
NIH Animal Care and Use Committee 1990-1991
NIMH Animal Care and Use Committee (chairman in 1991), 1986-1991

Publications

See the publications page.