Headshot of Anthony Zador.

Anthony Zador

Professor of biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory;
Contributing editor, The Transmitter

Anthony Zador is Alle Davis Harris Professor of Biology at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. The goal of his research is to understand the neural circuits underlying sensorimotor decision-making. His laboratory pioneered the use of rodents in complex decision-making tasks and developed a novel suite of approaches, including MAPseq and BARseq, for determining brain wiring using high-throughput DNA sequencing. His current research interests include neuroscience-inspired artificial intelligence. He is the co-founder of several meetings, including Computational and Systems Neuroscience and From Neuroscience to Artificially Intelligent Systems.

Zador received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Yale University and did postdoctoral work at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, before joining the faculty at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of rolling dice.

Grant review needs reform. How about we add an element of chance?

A process that uses a lottery system saves time, reduces strategic resubmission and accepts that, above a quality threshold, luck has always played a part in science funding.

By Adrien Peyrache
25 September 2026 | 6 min read
Research diagram of gene expression.

Fly neurons carry molecular signatures of their origins

The pattern of transcription factors a Drosophila neuron expresses offers clues to its lineage and birth order—and ultimately how neural circuits emerge.

By Alissa de Chassey
25 September 2026 | 5 min read
Cortical organoids from the anterior (green) or posterior (red) cortex.

Polarized cortical organoids mimic the brain’s regional organization

The organoids show region-specific gene-expression changes that match those observed during fetal development.

By Holly Barker
24 September 2026 | 4 min read