Dr. Robert Gerlai

Biography

Robert Gerlai received his Ph.D. from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences with the highest distinction in 1989. He has held numerous academic positions in Europe and North America, including at Eötvös University of Budapest, Mount Sinai Hospital Research Institute in Toronto, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, and the University of Hawaii Honolulu. Gerlai joined the University of Toronto in 2004 and has been a full professor in the Department of Psychology since 2008, currently holding the John Carlin Roder Distinguished Professorship in Behavioural Neuroscience. He has published over 300 papers in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, with a cumulative citation count exceeding 16,000 and an H-index of 64. His research focuses on the molecular neurobiological mechanisms underlying animal behaviour. Alongside his academic achievements, Gerlai is an active member of editorial boards and has served as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals. He is a founding member of the International Behavioral Neural Genetics Society and has held leadership roles within that organization. Gerlai's research at UTM demonstrates a multidisciplinary approach encompassing psychology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and genetics, and he has developed innovative behavioural testing tools for zebrafish to explore questions related to alcohol abuse and learning and memory mechanisms. He actively teaches courses in animal behaviour and genetics, and is also involved in writing a textbook on Animal Behaviour Genetics.

Research Interests