Krishnan Padmanabhan

Krishnan Padmanabhan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD). He holds joint appointments in both departments and leads the Neural Circuits and Computation Laboratory.

Padmanabhan earned his BS in Biology and History and MS in Physiological Sciences from UCLA, followed by a PhD in Neuroscience from Carnegie Mellon University. He was a Francis Crick-Irwin Jacobs Junior Fellow at the Salk Institute before joining URMC.

His research focuses on understanding neuronal function in the mammalian brain, particularly how neural circuits underlie computations disrupted in psychiatric and neurological disorders. Techniques include multi-electrode electrophysiology, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and computational modeling.

Recent work explores representational stability in olfactory systems, rigor in brain organoid research, and Alzheimer’s disease impacts on hippocampal coding. His lab investigates how biophysical neuron properties influence circuit function and disease mechanisms.

Padmanabhan collaborates across disciplines, affiliated with the Center for Visual Science and involved in training programs like NBA and NSC tracks. The lab’s projects span sensory processing, iPSC-based disease modeling, and algebraic approaches to neural coding.