Diane Lipscombe

Professor Diane Lipscombe, Reliance Dhirubhai Ambani Director of the Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science and the Thomas J Watson Jr. Professor of Science in the Department of Neuroscience at Brown University, is a leader in the field of neuronal calcium ion channel regulation and function in health and disease. She is a past President of the Society for Neuroscience, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and past chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the NIH. Professor Lipscombe studies ion channel expression, modulation, and function with interest in the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie neurological and psychiatric diseases. Her research team recently discovered a new mechanism that controls cell-specific pre-mRNA splicing of a voltage-gated calcium ion channel important for the transmission of noxious stimuli and the development of hyperalgesia in nociceptors. The recipient of several awards for teaching and mentorship, Professor Lipscombe has a history of working to improve and enhance graduate education and training.