Venkatesh Murthy

Venkatesh Murthy is the Raymond Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. He holds additional leadership positions as the Paul J. Finnegan Family Director of the Center for Brain Science, Co-Director of the Harvard Brain Science Initiative, and Kempner Associate Faculty and member of the Kempner Faculty Steering Committee. Originally from Neyveli, a small industrial town in south India, Murthy earned a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He pursued graduate studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, obtaining an M.S.E. in Bioengineering followed by a Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics. His postdoctoral training took place at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, where he deepened his expertise in neuroscience. Murthy joined the Harvard faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1999 and has since advanced to his current professorial role, contributing significantly to the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Murthy's research investigates the neural and algorithmic basis of odor-guided behaviors in terrestrial animals, with a focus on neural circuits in the olfactory system. His laboratory develops behavioral tasks in mice that mimic natural settings, employing electrophysiological recordings, high-resolution optical imaging, and optogenetic manipulations to record neural activity in behaving animals. The work examines how these circuits and computations are modified by behavioral state, experience, and learning, often in collaboration with theorists to provide mathematical explanations. Notable publications include 'DeepLabCut: markerless pose estimation of user-defined body parts with deep learning' (Nature Neuroscience, 2018), 'Coherent 25-to 35-Hz oscillations in the sensorimotor cortex of awake behaving monkeys' (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1992), 'All-optical electrophysiology in mammalian neurons using engineered microbial rhodopsins' (Nature Methods, 2014), 'Inactivity produces increases in neurotransmitter release and synapse size' (Neuron, 2001), and 'Heterogeneous release properties of visualized individual hippocampal synapses' (Neuron, 1997). Murthy received the Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award from the Harvard GSAS Graduate Student Council. He teaches an undergraduate course on Artificial and Natural Intelligence, bridging neuroscience with artificial intelligence research. His leadership and highly cited contributions have advanced understanding of sensory processing and neural computation in biology.

Professional Email: vnmurthy@fas.harvard.edu