Evan Schaffer is assistant professor of neuroscience at the Friedman Brain Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. His lab uses mathematical tools to understand distributed computations in the brain, identify how these computations change with learning and identify how feedback from the body impacts cognition. Schaffer received his Ph.D. at the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, in Larry Abbott’s lab at Columbia University. He completed his postdoctoral work in Richard Axel’s Lab at Columbia University
Evan Schaffer
Assistant professor of neuroscience
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Selected articles
- “Inhibitory stabilization of the cortical network underlies visual surround suppression” | Neuron
- “A complex-valued firing-rate model that approximates the dynamics of spiking networks” | PLoS Computational Biology
- “Odor perception on the two sides of the brain: Consistency despite randomness” | Neuron
- “The spatial and temporal structure of neural activity across the fly brain” | Nature Communications
- “Behavioral fingerprinting of the naked mole-rat uncovers signatures of eusociality and social touch” | bioRxiv
Explore more from The Transmitter
Dendrites help neuroscientists see the forest for the trees
Dendritic arbors provide just the right scale to study how individual neurons reciprocally interact with their broader circuitry—and are our best bet to bridge cellular and systems neuroscience.
Dendrites help neuroscientists see the forest for the trees
Dendritic arbors provide just the right scale to study how individual neurons reciprocally interact with their broader circuitry—and are our best bet to bridge cellular and systems neuroscience.
By
Justin O’Hare
27 February 2026 | 7 min read
Two primate centers drop ‘primate’ from their name
The Washington and Tulane National Biomedical Research Centers—formerly called National Primate Research Centers—say they made the change to better reflect the breadth of research performed at the centers.
Two primate centers drop ‘primate’ from their name
The Washington and Tulane National Biomedical Research Centers—formerly called National Primate Research Centers—say they made the change to better reflect the breadth of research performed at the centers.
By
Calli McMurray
26 February 2026 | 5 min read
Post-infection immune conflict alters fetal development in some male mice
The immune conflict between dam and fetus could help explain sex differences in neurodevelopmental conditions.
Post-infection immune conflict alters fetal development in some male mice
The immune conflict between dam and fetus could help explain sex differences in neurodevelopmental conditions.
By
Viviane Callier
26 February 2026 | 5 min read