Congratulations to Dr. Catharine Rankin on receiving the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society’s (IBANGS) 2023 Distinguished Investigator Award!
The award not only recognizes the important scientific contributions of a leading researcher in the field of behavioural and neural genetics, but also their mentorship of trainees and continued impact on the field.
Dr. Catharine Rankin, a member of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. She is internationally recognized for her work using an invertebrate model system to address fundamental psychological questions about the effects of experience on the nervous system and behaviour.
She was the first to show that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is capable of learning and memory, and has uncovered genes that play important roles in learning and memory. Her lab uses behavioural, neural circuit and genetic analyses to determine the mechanisms through which experience alters the nervous system. Dr. Rankin’s research sheds light on the cellular mechanisms of habituation, the simplest form of learning.
