Mark Bear

Background and Experience

Dr. Mark Bear is the Picower Professor of Neuroscience in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1994 to 2015, and served as Director of the Picower Institute from 2007 to 2009. Prior to moving to MIT in 2003, Dr. Bear was the Sidney A. and Dorothy Doctors Fox Professor at Brown University School of Medicine for 17 years. After receiving his B.S. degree from Duke University, he earned his Ph.D. degree in neurobiology at Brown. He took postdoctoral training from Wolf Singer at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany, and from Leon Cooper at Brown. His long-standing scientific interest is in how the brain is modified by experience, and his lab is currently focused on applying knowledge of the elementary mechanisms of synaptic plasticity to overcome genetic or environmental adversity. 

Awards and Honors

• Member, National Academy of Medicine, 2022 – Present
• Elected Fellow, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2005
• Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2004
• Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2003
• Elected Fellow, Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, 1999
• Elected Fellow, The Neurosciences Institute, La Jolla, California, 1999
• Member, Dana Alliance for Brain Research Executive Committee, 2010 – Present
• Member, Institute of Medicine Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders, 2009 – Present
• Board of Reviewing Editors, Science, 2011-2014
• Jury Member, Society for Neuroscience Julius Axelrod Prize, 2009-2011
• Jury Member, Antonio Champalimaud Foundation Vision Award, 2007-
• Scientific Advisory Board, Brain Research New Zealand, 2015-
• Scientific Advisory Board, BioAxone Biosciences, Inc., 2015-
• Scientific Advisory Board, Sage Therapeutics, Inc., 2013-2015
• Scientific Advisory Board, Mnemosyne Pharmaceutics, Inc., 2011-
• Scientific Advisory Board, SynapDx Corp., 2011-
• Scientific Advisory Committee, Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins University, 2011- Present
• Scientific Advisory Board, FRAXA Research Foundation, 2009 – Present
• Scientific Advisory Panel, Neuroscience Therapeutic Area, Pfizer, Inc, 2008-2010, 2014-
• Scientific Advisory Board, The Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute, MIT, 2007 – Present
• Scientific Advisory Board, Seaside Therapeutics, Inc, 2005 – Present
• Beckman-Argyros Vision Award 2018
• IPSEN Foundation Neuroscience Prize 2015
• Ray Fuller Award, American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2012
• Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors, 7th International mGluR Meeting, Taormina, Italy, 2011
• Pioneer Award, FRAXA Research Foundation, 2011
• William and Enid Rosen Award for Outstanding Contributions to Understanding Fragile X Syndrome, National Fragile X Foundation, 2006
• Brown University Elizabeth H. Leduc Award for Teaching Excellence, 2000
• Brown University Class of 2000 Barrett Hazeltine Citation for Teaching Excellence
• Fogarty Senior International Fellowship, 1993
• Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award, 1993
• United States Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 1988
• Alfred P. Sloan Award, 1987