Investigator, Instructor NSI Neuro Research Fac MGPO, Mass General Research Institute

Assistant Professor of Neurology Harvard Medical School

PhD Johns Hopkins University 2016

alzheimer's disease; basal forebrain; bioelectronics; cognition; dementia; gamma oscillations; optogenetics; parvalbumin neurons; systems neuroscience I am Principal Investigator of the Bioelectronics Lab affiliated with the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at the MGH and an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School (HMS). I am also affiliated with the McCance Center for Brain Health. After earning my PhD at Johns Hopkins University in neuroscience of attention, learning and memory, I completed my postdoctoral training on neural circuits of motivation at the National Institute on Drug Abuse and sleep and neural oscillations research at HMS. My postdoctoral work at HMS supported by competitive NHLBI T32 and NIMH F32 NRSA grants focused on parvalbumin-expressing neurons in the basal forebrain and their role in attention through their control of cortical oscillations, i.e. 'brainwaves'. I am PI on a NIA K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award that targets basal forebrain parvalbumin neurons to investigate therapeutic mechanism of widespread evoked gamma oscillations in preclinical models of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). My team and I endeavor to translate our work into new treatments for AD and other causes of dementia.

Throughout my career, I have shown tenacity, ingenuity, and an unwavering commitment to our shared purpose in science. To support high-risk/high-reward fundamental research developing sonogenetic methods to treat neurological disease (translational vision), I recently submitted applications for an NIH DP2 Director's New Innovator Award and an NIH R35 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award due to my exceptional track record of mentorship and significant service to the scientific community above-and-beyond expectations of my institution. I am an Early Stage Investigator (ESI) and staunch supporter of the need for animal models in neuroscience. To that end, earlier this year I submitted a response (featured on LinkedIn profile) to Request for Information (RFI) for the NIH-wide strategic plan FY 2027-2031 (NOT-OD-26-047). I advocate for science through thought leadership and cultivate philanthropy for myself and others. I am organizing a crossover seminar series/panel discussion on the pursuit of excellence (tagline: Science is an endurance sport and we have much to learn from professional athletes and world champions on the pursuit of excellence). As Harvard faculty, I have given four invited talks, three regional and one national. One talk was a former trainee presentation at the HMS Sleep T32 External Advisory Committee Meeting, an honor reserved for the most successful trainees in the program. I was a panelist on career discussions for Brigham and Women's Hospital postdocs in 2025 and at the 2026 Amgen Scholars North America Symposium. I serve as ad hoc reviewer for several journals, am on the Early Career Researcher Editorial Board for Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, and served as grant reviewer for the MGH Transformative Scholar Award. I am serving on an upcoming Transforming Care -1 review panel of the Alzheimer’s Research Program for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs and I serve on the Executive Council for the Committee on the Concerns of Women (CCW) at Harvard. 

I am committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists and physicians. I co-mentor one HMS Instructor and co-mentored three HMS postdocs; I worked closely with one postdoc on her K99 application and co-authored papers with the other two. I mentored three Harvard undergraduates; two received Harvard College Research Program funding and one completed a Harvard PRISE fellowship. I currently serve as primary advisor for a Northeastern undergraduate thesis and have served as primary advisor for three theses: a Boston University (BU) undergraduate, a Princeton undergraduate, and a Maastricht University Master’s. My BU student was runner-up for the Neuroscience College Prize given to the most outstanding student in the program. My Princeton student received a Neuroscience Research Award, approximately $7k of total funding, and she is now pursuing MD at UCSF. My Maastricht mentee was one of two invited to speak about their research at their graduation ceremony and she is now pursuing PhD at University of Zurich. Two technicians under my supervision earned MGH Pillars of Excellence Awards in recognition of their exemplary performance. I trained interns from Oxford, Dartmouth, Drexel, Northeastern, North Shore Community College and one who is now a prestigious UVA Jefferson Scholar. Two of my mentees scored 519 on their MCAT first attempt (I am supportive and demanding). I innovated an apprenticeship-style graduate school preparatory course on scientific communication through writing, philosophy of science, and career development and six graduates of the course are currently enrolled in PhD programs (UMass Amherst Neuroscience and Behavior, UConn Immunology, Cornell Weill Neuroscience, Columbia Biomedical Engineering, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London). The goal of this course is to help mentees conceptualize, contextualize, and articulate their work, interests, and long-term goals in a clear and compelling manner. As a result of this course, one mentee, now at QMUL, switched fields with my enduring support to study her passion (bumblebees) leading to her co-authorship on recent publications in Nature (Bridges et al. Chittka, 2024) and eLife (MaBouDi et al. Chittka, 2025). Because of my original contributions to scholarship, strong track record of funding, and exceptional teaching accomplishments, I was promoted to Assistant Professor of Neurology at HMS after expedited review.

I have no conflicts of interest (COI) to disclose. Please support our cause by designating a gift to Dr. Felipe Schiffino Cure Dementia Fund.

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