Headshot of Kenneth Harris.

Kenneth Harris

Professor of quantitative neuroscience
University College London

Kenneth Harris is professor of quantitative neuroscience at University College London. Together with Matteo Carandini, he co-directs the Cortical Processing Laboratory. The aim of the laboratory is to understand the computations performed by neuronal populations in the visual system, the underlying neural circuits and the way these computations lead to perceptual decisions. Current research efforts focus on how cortical populations integrate sensory information with information from within the brain.

Harris received a B.A. and Part III in mathematics from the University of Cambridge in 1993 and a Ph.D. in neural computation from University College London in 1998. He then moved to Rutgers University for postdoctoral work, where he eventually opened a laboratory studying neuronal population activity in the neocortex. He next moved to Imperial College London before joining the faculty at University College London.

Harris received the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in 2005 and the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award and an EPSRC Leadership Fellowship in 2010. He was named a Burroughs Wellcome Trust Investigator and a Simons Investigator in 2014.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

dendritic spine images

Targeting NMDA receptor subunit reverses fragile X traits in mice

The subunit acts as a “volume control” on signaling that shapes the density of dendritic spines, the new work suggests.

By Angie Voyles Askham
6 March 2025 | 5 min read
A pregnant woman seen in profile, sitting on the edge of a bed.

Maternal infection’s link to autism may be a mirage

Family-linked factors explain most associations between maternal illness and autism, a study of 1.1 million Danish children finds.

By Charles Q. Choi
6 March 2025 | 3 min read
Headshots of Michelle Monje and Frank Winkler.

2025 Brain Prize honors pair of cancer neuroscientists

Michelle Monje and Frank Winkler share the $1.4 million award for their discovery of synapses between brain cancer cells and neurons.

By Sydney Wyatt
5 March 2025 | 3 min read