Lauren N Ross.

Lauren N. Ross

Associate professor of logic and philosophy of science
University of California, Irvine

Lauren N. Ross is associate professor of logic and philosophy of science at the University of California, Irvine. Her research concerns causal reasoning and explanation in the life sciences, primarily neuroscience and biology.  One main area of her research explores causal varieties—different types of causes, causal relationships and causal systems in the life sciences. Her work identifies the features characteristic of these causal varieties and their implications for how these systems are studied, how they figure in scientific explanations and how they behave. A second main area of work focuses on types of explanation in neuroscience and biology, including distinct forms of causal and noncausal explanation.

Ross’ research has received a National Science Foundation CAREER award, a Humboldt Experienced Researcher Fellowship, a John Templeton Foundation Grant, and an Editor’s Choice Award at the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.  Recent publications include “Causation in neuroscience: Keeping mechanism meaningful” with Dani S. Bassett in Nature Reviews Neuroscience and a forthcoming book, “Explanation in Biology” (Cambridge University Press: Elements Series).

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of developing axons in the fly brain.

How developing neurons simplify their search for a synaptic mate

Streamlining the problem from 3D to 1D eases the expedition—a strategy the study investigators deployed to rewire an olfactory circuit in flies.

By Calli McMurray
6 June 2025 | 6 min read
Distorted floppy discs.

NIH autism database announcement raises concerns among researchers

The U.S. National Institutes of Health announced a plan to pour $50 million into data science projects intended to investigate the condition’s causes, but the initiative’s short timeline and other atypicalities have prompted questions.

By Angie Voyles Askham
5 June 2025 | 5 min read
Image of alpha-synuclein filaments in the brain.

Large study links autism to Parkinson’s disease

Autistic adults appear to be prone to an early-onset form of Parkinson’s, according to a long-term study that tracked 2.2 million people in Sweden.

By Charles Q. Choi
5 June 2025 | 4 min read