Narayanan (Bobby) Kasthuri, the first neuroscientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory, testified February 5, 2020, before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development, and Related Agencies, on the DOE’s role in advancing biomedical sciences.

Kasthuri’s testimony focused on how better collaborations between DOE and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) can transform future lifesaving therapies, particularly in the areas of mental illness; help ensure U.S. leadership for decades not only in neuroscience, but in artificial intelligence and energy; and inspire a new generation of scientists working at the interface of brains, algorithms, and big data.

Kasthuri is also an assistant professor (adjunct) in the Department of Neurobiology at the University of Chicago. He holds an M.D. from Washington University School of Medicine and a D.Phil. from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes scholar.