Photo of Dr. Catharine Rankin in the Douglas T. Kenny Building
Dr. Catharine Rankin is the recipient of the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society’s (IBANGS) 2023 Distinguished Investigator Award.
The IBANGS Distinguished Investigator Award honours a scientist whose area of research is in behavioural and neural genetics. Key considerations are the scientific importance of discoveries, record of achievement, mentorship of students, postdoctoral fellows and new faculty, and continued impact on the field.
“I am very honoured to receive this award. Former winners are heroes of mine and it is great to be considered in their company. The research that led to this award is the product of the many amazing graduate and undergraduate students I have trained over the years for whom I will always be grateful.”
Dr. Catharine Rankin is internationally recognized for her work using an invertebrate system to address fundamental psychological questions about the effects of experience on the nervous system and behavior. She was the first to show that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is capable of learning and memory, and has uncovered genes that play important roles in habituation, a form of learning that is altered in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Her current research includes behavioral phenotyping projects designed to functionalize genes implicated in ASD and to understand how disease variants alter gene function.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Rankin on this honour!
