Brielle Ferguson

Brielle Ferguson is a researcher affiliated with the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center in the Neurology Research division at Boston Children's Hospital. She earned her undergraduate degree in Cognitive Science with a neuroscience concentration and bioethics minor from the University of Virginia (2012), followed by a PhD at Drexel University College of Medicine under Wen-Jun Gao.

• Education:
  • B.A. in Cognitive Science, University of Virginia (2012)
  • PhD in Neuroscience, Drexel University College of Medicine

Her research focuses on thalamocortical circuits, prefrontal cortex function, and their disruption in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and autism-spectrum disorders. She developed attention task models to study circuit mechanisms and investigates inhibitory microcircuits in cognitive dysfunction.

Scientific Awards & Funding:

• Dean’s Fellowship for Excellence (Drexel)
• Predoctoral NRSA (F31)
• Stanford Dean’s Fellowship
• Postdoctoral NRSA (F32)
• K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award

Her work bridges basic cognitive neuroscience with translational approaches to understand disease mechanisms and optimize therapeutic strategies.