SfN 2026 Election Results Announced
SfN congratulates the officers and councilors elected during this year’s election. The incoming leaders will begin their terms at Neuroscience 2026 in Washington, D.C.
SfN membership elected Peter L. Strick as incoming president-elect and Catherine S. Woolley as incoming treasurer-elect, with Damien A. Fair and Janice R. Naegele being named incoming councilors.
Incoming President-Elect: Peter L. Strick
Peter L. Strick is a distinguished professor and chair in the Department of Neurobiology, Thomas Detre Endowed Chair in Neuroscience, co-director of the Center for Neuroscience, and director of the Systems Neuroscience Center at the University of Pittsburgh. He received an undergraduate degree in Biology and PhD in Anatomy from the University of Pennsylvania. His current research focuses on three major areas: 1) the generation and control of voluntary movement by the motor areas of the cerebral cortex; 2) the motor, cognitive and affective functions of the basal ganglia and cerebellum; and 3) the neural basis for the mind-body connection. Strick is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. He is a longtime member of SfN and has served in various roles on multiple committees throughout his membership, including as a member of the Program Committee, Finance Committee, Audit Committee; Chair of the Publications Committee and the Committee on Animals in Research; and a previous stint on Council as both a Councilor and Treasurer.
Reflecting on his upcoming term, Strick said:
“I am profoundly honored to have the opportunity to serve as president of the Society for Neuroscience. We all know that this is an exceptionally challenging time to be a scientist. If we ever needed SfN before, we sure do need it now — to stand as our advocate, to promote the process of discovery, and to make our science accessible to each other and to the public. I look forward to working with our broad community — SfN members and their students, SfN staff, advocacy groups, and the public at large — to help our science thrive.”
Incoming Treasurer-Elect: Catherine S. Woolley
Catherine S. Woolley is the William Deering Professor of Biological Sciences in the Department of Neurobiology at the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences and a professor of Neurology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from Rockefeller University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Washington with Philip A. Schwartzkroin. Woolley’s research — which has been supported by NIH (NINDS, NIDA, NIMH), the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and the Northwestern University Women’s Health Research Institute — focuses on neuromodulation, sex differences in the brain, seizures and epilepsy, the neurobiology of stress, and social drivers of health.
Woolley has been a member of SfN for over 30 years and has served on various committees including the Education Committee, Julius Axelrod Prize Selection Committee, Finance Committee, and the Peter Seeburg Integrative Neuroscience Prize Selection Committee. She has also previously served as an SfN Councilor and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine as well as a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Incoming Councilor: Damien A. Fair
Damien A. Fair is the Redleaf Endowed Director of the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain, professor in both the Institute of Child Development within the College of Education and Human Development, and the Department of Pediatrics within the Medical School at the University of Minnesota. He received his Master of Medical Science from Yale University, is a Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C), and completed his PhD in Neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine. His research currently focuses on the following areas: 1) developmental cognitive neuroscience and brain network organization across the lifespan; 2) functional MRI and precision functional mapping (resting-state and task-based connectivity); 3) neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., ADHD, autism, substance use, mood disorders); 4) large-scale, multi-site cohort studies and big data science (ABCD, HBCD); 5) translational neuroimaging, reproducibility, and open science; and 6) technology-enabled care and access (telehealth, data platforms).
Fair has been a member of SfN for over 20 years and is a former member of the NGA/SEA Selection Committee and Program Committee; former member of the BrainFacts Editorial Board; and a former chair of the Public Education & Communication Committee. Outside of SfN, he has also served on a number of editorial boards and holds roles on various boards for Turing Medical, Augustana University, YMCA-North, and the Northside Achievement Zone.
Incoming Councilor: Janice R. Naegele
Janice R. Naegele is the Alan M. Dachs Professor of Science, Professor of Biology, and Professor of Neuroscience and Behavior, Emerita at Wesleyan University. She received her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University. Naegele’s research focuses on the cellular and molecular basis for epilepsy, stem cell-mediated repair of seizure-induced hippocampal damage, and adult neurogenesis.
Naegele has been an SfN member for over 40 years and has served on the Program Committee, NSP Selection Committee, Achievement Awards Selection Committee, and is a former chair of the Professional Development Committee. Outside of SfN, she currently serves as an Editorial Board member for Brain and Development and Epilepsy Currents. She is a member of Connecticut Academy of Sciences, a former member of the University of Connecticut Stem Cell Advisory Board and American Epilepsy Society’s Scientific Program Committee, a former trustee of the American Epilepsy Society’s Lennox-Lombroso Trust, and has served as a member of various NIH study sections and special emphasis panels.
