Ben Barres, M.D. and P.H.D, is an American neurobiologist who teaches at Stanford University. A graduate of Harvard that teaches at Stanford, a scientist and Chair of the Neurobiology Department. He is currently Chair of the Neurobiology department at Stanford University School of Medicine. Barres has a degree in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School, neurology residency training at Weill Cornell, a doctorate in neurobiology from Harvard University, and did his postdoctoral training at University College London, prior to joining Stanford in 1993.
He transitioned in 1997, made headlines in the mainstream press in July 2006 after writing an article in Nature that addressed issues of sex and intelligence. As a gay trans man, Barres was critical of Lawrence Summers and others who have claimed that one reason there are fewer women than men in science and engineering professorships might be that fewer women than men had the very high levels of “intrinsic aptitude” that such jobs required. Barres wrote about personal experiences of being treated differently as a female scientist versus a male scientist. Dr. Barres’ major area of research is neuron-glial. He has pioneered the development of novel methods for the purification and culture of neurons and glial cells.
Using his methods he had made impressive discoveries into the brain and spine that have important implications for understanding how we learn as well as why the brain and spinal cord are not able to regenerate after injury. Dr. Barres presently serves on the editorial boards of several leading journals including Neuron, the Journal of Neuroscience, and Development. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He has won many research awards as well as teaching awards. He presently serves on several advisory committees for the Society for Neuroscience, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders.
This man is totally my new role model.
