Top Neuroscience Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles for 2026

The University of California, Los Angeles continues to show a broad and active neuroscience footprint, with recent work spanning brain development, cognition, clinical research, and neuroengineering. Across a sampled set of works from the last year, the research profile reflects both foundational questions about neural systems and practical efforts aimed at diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.

Below, you’ll find a closer look at featured UCLA researchers whose recent publications highlight how neuroscience can connect molecular mechanisms, behavior, and patient-centered care. Together, their work offers a useful snapshot of where the field is moving across the campus community.

Featured Researchers

Lara A. Ray

Lara A. Ray's recent UCLA work links epidemiology and cellular neuroscience to alcohol use disorder, with studies on neuroimmune modulation, co-use of alcohol and cannabis, and treatment effects across translational settings.

Activity over the last year: 12 indexed journal articles.

Top publications:

• A Neuroimmune Modulator for Alcohol Use Disorder (Apr 2025)
• Effects of alcohol and cannabis co-use on salience network resting state functional connectivity in individuals who drink alcohol heavily (Jan 2025)
• Translating medication effects for alcohol use disorder across preclinical, human laboratory, and clinical trial outcomes using meta-analysis (Jul 2025)

Carrie E. Bearden

Carrie E. Bearden is focusing on psychiatry, molecular biology, and cognitive neuroscience through research on psychosis risk, biomarker design, and cognitive harmonization in the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia Program.

Activity over the last year: 18 indexed journal articles.

Top publications:

• Relations of temporoparietal connectivity with neighborhood social fragmentation in youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis (Mar 2025)
• Body fluid biomarkers and psychosis risk in The Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia Program: design considerations (May 2025)
• Cognitive assessment in the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia Program: harmonization priorities and strategies in a diverse international sample (Mar 2025)

Catherine Lord

Catherine Lord’s recent publications center on autism across the lifespan, contextual factors in autism research, and daily living skills that may help predict adult outcomes in longitudinal studies.

Activity over the last year: 13 indexed journal articles.

Top publications:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder Across the Lifespan (Jan 2025)
• Expanding Research on Contextual Factors in Autism Research: What Took Us So Long? (Feb 2025)
• Identifying Daily Living Skills From Childhood and Adolescence Predictive of Adult Outcomes in a Longitudinal Study of Autism and Related Developmental Conditions (May 2025)

Jeffrey L. Saver

Jeffrey L. Saver is working across epidemiology, pulmonary and respiratory medicine, and rehabilitation with publications on stroke prevention, neuroprotective taxonomy, and tenecteplase trial design.

Activity over the last year: 11 indexed journal articles.

Top publications:

• Efficacy and Safety of Very Low Achieved LDL Cholesterol in Patients With Previous Ischemic Stroke (Nov 2025)
• A new taxonomy of neuroprotective agents for stroke appropriate for the reperfusion era (Feb 2025)
• A multicenter, prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded endpoint trial of intravenous thrombolysis with tenecteplase for acute non-large vessel occlusion in extended time window (OPTION): Rationale and design (Oct 2025)

Jun Chen

Jun Chen’s UCLA research brings biomedical engineering into neuroscience-adjacent applications, including a programmable ultrasonic implant for chronic pain management and flexible sensing systems.

Activity over the last year: 9 indexed journal articles.

Top publications:

• A programmable and self-adaptive ultrasonic wireless implant for personalized chronic pain management (May 2025)
• Advances in Soft Strain and Pressure Sensors (Feb 2025)
• A flexible pressure sensor array for self-powered identity authentication during typing (Mar 2025)

Anne K. Churchland

Anne K. Churchland’s recent work in cognitive and cellular neuroscience examines brain-wide activity, prior information in mouse decision-making, and motion correction for high-density recordings.

Activity over the last year: 12 indexed journal articles.

Top publications:

• A brain-wide map of neural activity during complex behaviour (Sep 2025)
• Brain-wide representations of prior information in mouse decision-making (Sep 2025)
• DREDge: robust motion correction for high-density extracellular recordings across species (Mar 2025)

Joseph L. Demer

Joseph L. Demer’s publications span pathology, neurology, and ophthalmology, with a clinical focus on strabismus management, surgical dosing, and outcomes in older patients.

Activity over the last year: 9 indexed journal articles.

Top publications:

• Surgical Management of Masquerading Superior Oblique Palsy (Feb 2025)
• Common Forms of Adult Esotropia Require Augmented Surgical Dosing (Feb 2025)
• Strabismus Surgery in Patients Aged Over 80 Years: Indications, Safety, and Outcomes (Jan 2025)

Laura A. DeNardo

Laura A. DeNardo is exploring cognitive and cellular neuroscience through studies of prefrontal cortex development, threat avoidance pathways, and ensemble activity during learning.

Activity over the last year: 8 indexed journal articles.

Top publications:

• Prefrontal cortex development and its implications in mental illness (Jul 2025)
• Developmentally distinct architectures in top–down pathways controlling threat avoidance (Feb 2025)
• Transformations in prefrontal ensemble activity underlying rapid threat avoidance learning (Feb 2025)

What University of California, Los Angeles's Neuroscience Community Is Working On

The most common subfields point to a neuroscience community working at the intersection of cognition, cells and circuits, and clinical translation. Cognitive neuroscience appears especially prominent, alongside cellular and molecular neuroscience, suggesting sustained interest in how brain systems support behavior and learning. Epidemiology and pathology also show up repeatedly, reflecting a parallel emphasis on disease patterns, patient populations, and clinical mechanisms. Taken together, the recent work suggests a field that is balancing discovery science with studies aimed at diagnosis, treatment, and real-world outcomes.

• Cognitive Neuroscience - seen across 4 of the featured researchers
• Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience - seen across 3 of the featured researchers
• Epidemiology - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
• Pathology and Forensic Medicine - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
• Psychiatry and Mental health - seen across 1 of the featured researchers

These featured researchers show how neuroscience at UCLA stretches from circuitry and behavior to clinical care and device design. If you want to keep tracking activity in your own area, Resub can help streamline citation discovery, manuscript formatting, and submission preparation so you can spend more time on the science.

Top researchers use tools to scale their productivity and impact. Try Livewrite for free today.