Leading computational neuroscientist to join Kempner Institute, Center for Brain Science

The Kempner Institute announced the appointment of SueYeon Chung, Ph.D. ’17, who returns to Harvard as a Kempner Institute Investigator and faculty member in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Center for Brain Science (CBS). In addition to her appointments within the Kempner Institute and CBS, Chung will hold a faculty position as assistant professor of physics in the FAS with a joint appointment in applied mathematics in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).

“Dr. Chung’s work is at the forefront of the rapidly progressing field of NeuroAI,” said Kempner co-director Bernardo Sabatini. “Her theoretical insights into neural representations in artificial and biological networks have the potential to change the way we think about structure and function of these networks, and have important implications for the work that the Kempner Institute is doing to advance our understanding of the basis of intelligence in natural and artificial systems.” 

“We are thrilled to have SueYeon Chung join the CBS and Kempner community,” said Venkatesh Murthy, Paul J. Finnegan Family Director of the Center for Brain Science. “She is a rising star in theoretical and computational neuroscience, combining approaches and insights from statistical physics and machine learning to advance our understanding of natural and artificial intelligence. She will deeply enrich our growing network of collaborative scientists spread across many departments and Schools, and will undoubtedly attract the smartest young trainees to our community in this exploding area of research.” 

“SueYeon Chung’s appointment marks an exciting collaboration between CBS, Kempner, FAS, and SEAS. Her interdisciplinary work in AI, physics, and applied math provides a new understanding of the computational underpinnings of cognition in brains and artificial networks,” said Kenneth Blum, executive director of the Center for Brain Science.

Chung will begin her appointment at Harvard in July.