For our latest podcast, we had the honor of interviewing one of the most influential leaders in biomedical research today, the President of Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), Dr. Cori Bargmann. Cori is also the Torsten N. Wiesel Professor at Rockefeller University. Cori has dedicated her research career to understanding the genetic and neural circuit mechanisms that mediate behavior.
In this wide-ranging interview, we discuss our current understanding of how the brain works, early successes from the NIH BRAIN Initiative, which Cori co-chaired at the invitation of the Obama Administration, and how breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and neuroscience will accelerate each other.
In the second part of the interview, Cori describes how CZI Science is different from other biomedical philanthropies, and why its scientific strategy for curing, managing and preventing all diseases by the end of the century is rooted in advancing basic science. She also talks about achieving this ambitious mission through different projects at CZI, including their recently announced Neurodegeneration Challenge Network and the Human Cell Atlas Project.
In the last part, Cori shares her insights about how scientists can be better communicators of their research to diverse audiences, her secret superpower for scientific success, and what the late neuroscientist, Dr. Ben Barres, meant for diversity in science.
You definitely don’t want to miss this one!