The 2024 Gruber Neuroscience Prize Awarded to Cornelia Bargmann and Gerald Rubin

Cornelia “Cori” Bargmann, PhD, of The Rockefeller University, and Gerald “Gerry” Rubin, PhD, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus, have been awarded the 2024 Gruber Neuroscience Prize. The award recognizes their pioneering work in elucidating the organization of circuits in behavior, and for their work in developing new genetics tools, which have advanced the entire field of neuroscience.

Bargmann served on the SfN Program Committee 2001–2004 and was a Presidential Special Lecturer at Neuroscience 2011 and Neuroscience 2015. Rubin served as a JNeurosci associate editor 1986–1992, was a Presidential Special Lecturer at Neuroscience 2013 and a Special Lecturer at Neuroscience 2019.

The Gruber Neuroscience Prize, which includes a $500,000 award, will be presented to Bargmann and Rubin on October 6 at Neuroscience 2024 in Chicago.

Bargmann is being recognized for her role in linking genetics with behavior, which includes identifying the first odorant receptor, and linking this receptor to a specific innate behavior. These early discoveries were then followed up with experiments looking at the link between environmental cues, genetic variation, and flexible behaviors that have provided insights into the genetic basis of behavior.

Rubin is being recognized for his role in developing a number of tools and resources that have advanced the field of Drosophila neuroscience, including P-element mediated genetic engineering; leading the effort to sequence the Drosophila genome; and undertaking the massive venture of mapping the fly brain, which included identifying the constituent neurons and their connections to each other, all of which have enriched the field in a number of invaluable ways.

The Gruber Neuroscience Prize honors scientists for major discoveries that have advanced the understanding of the nervous system. SfN partners with the Gruber Foundation on the Prize and nominates the members of the Selection Advisory Board that chooses the Prize recipients.