Clarissa Whitmire

Dr. Clarissa Whitmire is a Senior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at The University of Queensland (UQ) and a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI). She leads a research group focused on understanding how somatosensory information is encoded across the neuraxis, particularly within thalamocortical circuits. Her interdisciplinary work bridges neuroscience and engineering, employing experimental and computational methods to study neural representations of sensory stimuli.

Dr. Whitmire holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology/Emory University. After postdoctoral research at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, she established her lab at UQ in 2023.

Her research explores nonlinear neural coding mechanisms, emphasizing the dynamic role of the thalamus. Key themes include temperature sensation, sensory integration, and the interplay between neural circuit states and signal timing precision.

Publications span neuroscience, biomedical engineering, and optical imaging, reflecting her expertise in sensory systems and neural circuit analysis. She actively trains students in Honours and PhD programs, fostering interdisciplinary approaches to brain science.

Labs: Whitmire Lab at QBI. Collaborations include work on three-photon microscopy and optogenetic neurocontrol, with a focus on advancing tools for in vivo neural recording and manipulation.