Headshot of Nicole Rust

Nicole Rust

Professor of psychology, University of Pennsylvania;
Contributing editor, The Transmitter

Nicole Rust is professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Her research focuses on understanding the brain’s remarkable ability to remember the things we’ve seen and using that knowledge to develop new therapies to treat memory dysfunction. She is also writing a book on the types of understanding of the brain that will ultimately be required to treat neurological and psychiatric conditions. In it, she argues that effective progress in brain research will require ambitious and unprecedented multidisciplinary conversations of the type that will appear in The Transmitter.

Rust received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from New York University and completed her postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has been recognized by the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences, the McKnight Scholar Award, a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, a Sloan Research Fellowship, the Charles Ludwig Distinguished Teaching Award, and election to the Memory Disorders Research Society.

Get alerts for essays by Nicole Rust in your inbox.

Subscribe to get notified every time a new essay is published.

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image showing resting-state functional connectivity in the human red nucleus.

‘Ancient’ brainstem structure evolved beyond basic motor control

The human red nucleus may also help coordinate action, reward and motivated behavior, a new study suggests.

By Sydney Wyatt
16 May 2025 | 5 min read
Seattle skyline.

Reporter’s notebook: Highlights from INSAR 2025

The annual meeting brought autism researchers, advocates and clinicians to Seattle to discuss the latest research, including attempts to define subgroups, a potential new CHD8 macaque model and life expectancy gaps.

By Daisy Yuhas
15 May 2025 | 5 min read
A researcher stands at the top of a staircase that leads to nowhere.

NIDA shutters diversity fellowship program, axes active awards

It’s unclear if the cancellation at the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse extends to the fellowships awarded by other institutes within the National Institutes of Health.

By Calli McMurray
14 May 2025 | 4 min read