Headshot of Adrienne Fairhall.

Adrienne Fairhall

Professor of physiology and biophysics, University of Washington;
Contributing editor, The Transmitter

Adrienne Fairhall is professor of physiology and biophysics and adjunct professor of physics and applied mathematics at the University of Washington in Seattle. She co-directs the Computational Neuroscience Program at the University of Washington with Eric Shea-Brown. Her work focuses on dynamic neural computation, with a particular interest in the interplay between cellular and circuit dynamics and coding in a wide variety of model systems, including Hydra, Drosophila, birds and primates.

Fairhall obtained her honors degree in theoretical physics from the Australian National University and her Ph.D. in statistical physics from the Weizmann Institute of Science. She received her postdoctoral training at the NEC Research Institute with Bill Bialek and at Princeton University with Michael J. Berry II.

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of two planet-like spheres orbiting one another.

Can AI do neuroscience without understanding?

Prediction without understanding sustained astronomy through a thousand years of epicycles. Artificial intelligence is now offering neuroscience the same deal.

By Anthony Zador
27 April 2026 | 6 min read
Hands cut a ribbon.

What Trump’s psychedelics executive order means for basic neuroscience

The order provides a potential path to remove some psychedelic drugs from the strictest regulatory category, yet it “may not be the breakthrough the basic research community has been looking for,” says neuroscientist Shawn Lockery.

By Calli McMurray
24 April 2026 | 4 min read
Research image visualizing neuronal activity.

Switching neural code may solve ongoing face-recognition debate

Face patch cells in macaque monkeys initially respond to images of any object but rapidly transition to attend to faces exclusively, a new study finds.

By Holly Barker
23 April 2026 | 5 min read