Eric R. Kandel, MDNobel Conference 51

Eric R. Kandel, MD, is internationally recognized for his research on memory.  His work has been concerned with the molecular mechanisms of memory storage in Aplysia and mice. Recently, he has studied animal models in mice of memory disorders, mental illness, and nicotine addiction.

Dr. Kandel graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1952. After earning an MD at the New York University School of Medicine in 1956, Dr. Kandel trained in neurobiology at the National Institutes of Health and in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.  He joined the faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in 1974 as the founding director of the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior.  At Columbia, Kandel organized the neuroscience curriculum.  Dr. Kandel currently holds several positions, including University Professor at Columbia; Kavli Professor and Director, Kavli Institute for Brain Science; co-director, Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute; and as senior investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Dr. Kandel has published over 550 research articles and 17 books and has received 22 honorary degrees.  He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London, and a member of the National Science Academies of Austria, France, Germany, and Greece.  He has been recognized with the Albert Lasker Award, the Heineken Award of the Netherlands, the Gairdner Award of Canada, the Harvey Prize and the Wolf Prize of Israel, the U.S. National Medal of Science, and the Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine in 2000.