Bio:

Dr. Rui Costa has more than two decades of experience in bioscience and is a renowned expert in the brain circuitry that underlies movement. His studies focus on the circuits underlying diverse, spontaneous movements, and the organization and refinement of movements during learning. Unraveling these mechanisms could help researchers find better ways of treating disorders of movement, such as Parkinson’s disease, and psychiatric disorders, such as OCD.

Dr. Costa received his D.V.M. from the University of Lisbon in 1996. He carried out his Ph.D. research with Dr. Alcino Silva at UCLA from 1998 to 2002, followed by postdoctoral work with Dr. Miguel Nicolelis at Duke University and research as a section chief at the National Institutes of Health. In 2009, Dr. Costa became an Investigator in the Champalimaud Neuroscience Program, and a Professor at Columbia University in 2016. He served as director of Champalimaud Research from 2014 to 2017. In 2017, Costa was named CEO of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University in New York. Dr. Costa is also an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, as well as the National Academy of Medicine.