Dr. Leonard Kaczmarek

Biography

Leonard Kaczmarek pursued undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of London and continued his research career at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he learned electrophysiology. He also conducted work at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, developing neural network models, and the California Institute of Technology, where he made fundamental discoveries regarding phosphorylation state changes in ionic currents. As a faculty member at Yale since 1981, Kaczmarek's research focuses on the biochemical changes in neurons that result from prolonged behavioral changes in animals and their ability to detect specific sensory input patterns. He is well-known for his discoveries related to the genes and ion channel proteins that contribute to nerve cell excitability. His current laboratory work centers on the mutations of proteins that lead to intellectual disabilities and autism. Over his career, thirty-two of his students and postdoctoral trainees have gone on to hold tenure-track positions at prominent institutions such as Brown University, Yale University, UCSF, UCSD, and Vanderbilt.

Research Interests