Eve Marder is the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield University Professor at Brandeis University where she has served on the faculty since 1978.
Marder studies the dynamics of small neuronal networks. Her work was instrumental in demonstrating that neuronal circuits are not “hard-wired” but can be reconfigured by neuromodulatory neurons and substances to produce a variety of outputs. She combines experimental work with insights from modeling and theoretical studies. With Larry F. Abbott, her lab developed the programmable dynamic clamp. Her lab also pioneered studies of homeostatic regulation of intrinsic membrane properties and stimulated work on the mechanisms by which brains remain stable while allowing for change during development and learning. Marder now studies how similar network performance can arise from different sets of underlying network parameters. This research is relevant to climate change and differential resilience within populations. She has long been an advocate for women, diversity, and international representation. Her work and career trajectory were highlighted in a recent book by Charlotte Nassim, “Lessons from the Lobster, Eve Marder’s Work in Neuroscience”, published by MIT Press in 2018.
Marder was President of the Society for Neuroscience in 2008 and served on the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council, National Academy of Sciences Council, and numerous Study Sections and Advisory Boards for institutions in the USA and abroad. Marder is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Fellow of the Biophysical Society, the American Physiological Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She received the Miriam Salpeter Award for Women in Neuroscience, the W.F. Gerard Prize from the Society for Neuroscience, the George A. Miller Award from the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, the Karl Spencer Lashley Prize from the American Philosophical Society, honorary doctorates from Bowdoin College, Tel Aviv University, and Princeton University, the Gruber Award in Neuroscience, the Education Award from the Society for Neuroscience, the Kavli Award in Neuroscience, and the National Academy of Sciences Award in Neuroscience. Marder served on the NIH working group for the BRAIN Initiative and is on the BRAIN Advisory Council. Marder was Editor-in Chief of Journal of Neurophysiology and was Senior and Deputy Editor at eLife for its first 6 years.