David W. Tank, Ph.D.

David W. Tank is the Henry L. Hillman Professor in Molecular Biology at Princeton University and co-director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. He also directs the Bezos Center for Neural Circuit Dynamics.

Dr. Tank earned his B.S. in physics and mathematics at Case Western Reserve University in 1976 and a Ph.D. degree in physics from Cornell University in 1983. From 1983 to 2001, he was a research scientist at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ, becoming a Bell Laboratories Fellow in 1999. From 1991 to 2001, he served as department head of the Biological Computation Research Department at Bell Labs. In 2001, he moved to Princeton University, becoming a founding co-director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in 2005. His research interests include the measurement, analysis and modeling of neural circuit dynamics. At Bell Laboratories, he contributed to the development of attractor network models of neural decision making, the development of functional MRI imaging, and the development of cellular resolution optical imaging of neural dynamics. More recently, his work has focused on the mechanisms of persistent neural activity, and the development and application of rodent virtual reality systems combined with optical imaging and electrophysiology to study neural circuit dynamics during navigation.

Dr. Tank has received several awards and honors for his research, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a recipient of the W. Alden Spencer Award from Columbia University, the Lawrence C. Katz Prize from Duke University, and the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research.

Current Projects: Population Analysis of Cognitive Variables

Remapping across time, space and region

Past Project: Neural Circuit Dynamics During Cognition