Eduardo Macagno

Eduardo R. Macagno is a neuroscientist and Distinguished Professor at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), where he was recruited as the Founding Dean of the Division of Biological Sciences in 2001. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Physics at Columbia University, but subsequently trained in neuroscience as a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, and as a student at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He joined the faculty of the Columbia Department of Biological Sciences in 1973, served as chair of this department in 1990-1993, and in 1993 was appointed as Dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Beginning at Columbia and until recently at UCSD, his laboratory focused on the study of fundamental aspects of neural development, including the genesis of neuronal arbors, the innervation of target organs, and the formation of specific synaptic circuits. Since 2003, he has been involved in the development of an interface between Neuroscience and Architecture through his engagement with the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA), as a continuing member of its Board of Directors and President during 2010 and 2011.

He has also contributed to developing a curriculum for training in this area through teaching courses at UCSD on “Brains and Buildings” and at the NewSchool of Architecture and Design on “Neuroscience for Architecture,” with Professors Gil Cooke and Kris Mun.

His recent and current collaborative research projects employ biometric devices and Virtual Reality environments to study the interaction of normal and neurologically impaired subjects with the built environment, particularly in the areas of navigation, wayfinding and spatial memory.