Vanessa Ruta of Rockefeller University, who kick-started her neuroscience career as a student in the MBL Neurobiology course in 2000, is one of 26 MacArthur Fellows recently announced by The MacArthur Foundation. The MacArthur Fellowship is a $625,000 award given to talented individuals with no strings attached. Ruta investigates how stimuli shape the function of neural circuits and are translated into behaviors.

In 1997, Ruta participated in a NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at the MBL, the Marine Models in Biological Research Program. She returned to the Neurobiology course in 2016  as a faculty member and in 2017 as a lecturer, and is a Grass Foundation trustee.