Beth Buffalo’s path to a doctorate in neuroscience, even as she ticked off other boxes to become a philosophy professor, was foreshadowed in high school by a science fair experiment in her basement. Buffalo’s precocious experiment involved her hypothesis about a chemical’s effects on aggression, guidance from the University of Arkansas Medical School and 20 rats supplied by the National Center for Toxicological Research. She went on to work in the Center’s lab during summers in high school and college, researching neuropharmacology with animal models.

Buffalo’s research with nonhuman primates lay the groundwork for her future investigations at Emory University and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. She is currently serving as the interim associate director for research at the Washington National Primate Research Center.

Buffalo’s official appointment as the chair of Physiology & Biophysics (or “PBio”) follows the stepping down of Stan Froehner, PhD, after 20 years as department chair. Buffalo is a professor and principal investigator of the Buffalo Lab, which explores the neural mechanisms that support memory and cognition.

Guest Writer: Annie Kuo, The Huddle

Read the full article at UW Medicine’s The Huddle — Get to Know: Beth Buffalo, Chair of Physiology and Biophysics