REDEFINING CLASSICS

Leslie Kay’s research addresses the roles that personal history, present context, and chemistry play in shaping dynamic responses in brains and behavior. Her laboratory’s research focuses on neural oscillations that engage olfactory and limbic systems in odor learning, memory and behavioral interactions with scents, primarily using rats as a model system. More recently, she has turned her research interests toward studying cognitive health through the lens (or nose) of the sense of smell. She comes to the sense of smell with a background in Classics (Philosophy and Mathematics) from St. John’s College (Santa Fe, NM) and a PhD in Biophysics from UC Berkeley. She is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and serves as Deputy Dean for Research in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.