Headshot of Robert Froemke.

Robert Froemke

Skirball Foundation Professor of Genetics
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Robert Froemke is Skirball Foundation Professor of Genetics in the Neuroscience Institute and the otolaryngology and neuroscience departments at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. His lab studies neuromodulation, plasticity and behavior in rodents and humans. Froemke has a background in systems neuroscience, having performed Ph.D. work with Yang Dan at the University of California, Berkeley on spike-timing-dependent plasticity induced by natural spike trains in cortical networks. His postdoctoral research with Christoph Schreiner at the University of California, San Francisco focused on synaptic plasticity in vivo as related to auditory perception and behavior.

Froemke started his faculty position at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in 2010. He studies the synaptic mechanisms by which sounds acquire meaning, with a focus on oxytocin, maternal behavior and the use of neuroprosthetic devices, such as cochlear implants. For this work, he was awarded Sloan and Klingenstein Fellowships, and Pew and McKnight Scholarships. In 2021, Froemke was honored to receive a Landis Award for Outstanding Mentorship from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Explore more from The Transmitter

Grid of black-and-white headshots of neuroscience trainees.

‘A gut punch:’ How U.S. neuroscience trainees are grappling with diversity-based funding flux

Ten trainees spoke with The Transmitter about how the precarious state of U.S. federal funding is affecting their research and career plans.

By Calli McMurray, Angie Voyles Askham, Claudia López Lloreda
14 February 2025 | 2 min read
A brain made up of a matrix of small, predominately blue dots.

‘Bioethics and Brains: A Disciplined and Principled Neuroethics,’ an excerpt

In their new book, published earlier this week, Giordano and Shook examine how ethics can guide neuroscience research and its real-world applications.

By James Giordano, John Shook
14 February 2025 | 6 min read
A young child in a blue shirt sits in a red chair and speaks to an adult at the edge of the frame.

AI tool estimates social ability by analyzing speech

The system’s code and training data—drawn from one of the largest databases of speech recordings from autistic people—are openly available.

By Charles Q. Choi
13 February 2025 | 5 min read