Gaia Tavoni

Gaia Tavoni, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, where she leads the Tavoni Lab. Her research investigates fundamental principles of brain function through theoretical and computational approaches, focusing on neural coding, sensory processing, decision-making, and memory optimization.

Education:

• BS in Physical Engineering, Polytechnic of Turin (2010)
• International MS in Physics of Complex Systems (2012)
• PhD in Physics, École Normale Supérieure, Paris (2015)
• Post-doc in Theoretical Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania (2020)

Research Interests: Dr. Tavoni develops unified frameworks connecting computational, algorithmic, and implementational perspectives in neuroscience. Key areas include: multimodal sensory coding principles, neuroplasticity mechanisms, economic decision circuits, Bayesian inference theories, and memory optimization in heterogeneous networks. Her lab employs biophysical models, information theory, and statistical mechanics to study how neural networks optimize behavior.

Publication Trends: Recent work demonstrates strong emphasis on normative theories of neural computation, with publications spanning sensory integration, memory capacity optimization, and adaptive inference. Articles frequently integrate mathematical modeling with experimental neuroscience to explain cortical feedback mechanisms, decision circuits, and cognitive trade-offs.

Awards:

• Sloan Fellowship (2024)
• PRX Life Reviewer Excellence Award (2024)
• Swartz Foundation Fellowship (2017)
• Computational Neuroscience Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015)

Lab & Team: Directs a team including postdoctoral researchers (Mahsa Khoshkhou, Ryan McGee, Kaining Zhang), graduate student Eleonora Bano, and research assistant Timothy Crimmins. The lab focuses on neural circuit optimization and collaborates with groups like the Padoa-Schioppa Lab for economic decision research.