The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has announced the election of Kelsey Martin, Executive Vice President of Autism and Neuroscience at the Simons Foundation, to its 2024 class of new members. This prestigious honor recognizes Martin’s distinguished contributions to original research, alongside 120 national and 24 international members being honored this year.
Martin assumed her role at the Simons Foundation in September 2021, where she leads the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) and neuroscience collaborations. Prior to joining the foundation, Martin held positions at the University of California, Los Angeles, serving as dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine, chair of the UCLA Department of Biological Chemistry, and professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences.
During her tenure as dean, Martin established innovative programs in precision health and computational medicine while spearheading interdisciplinary research initiatives that bridged basic and clinical research. Her research focuses on the cellular and molecular biology of long-term synaptic plasticity and memory, with a particular emphasis on the regulation of gene expression in neurons in response to experience. Martin’s lab has made significant discoveries related to signaling molecules involved in synaptic transmission and translation mechanisms impacting synapse formation and plasticity.