Simón(e) Sun, PhD (they/she) is a scientist, artist, and advocate in the J. Tollkuhn Lab at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies, and a 2023 HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellow. They received their PhD in the R.W. Tsien Lab at the NYU Neuroscience Institute studying neuroplasticity.

Her research focuses on the developmental and functional importance of neuroendocrine signals such as estrogen, androgens, progesterones, and cortisol in brain circuits. She hopes to elucidate the mechanisms that are responsible for the vast array of sex-variable neurobiology observed in nature. Her past research focused on the importance of neural processes - both chemical and electrical - in the brain that maintain homeostatic balance. These functions are crucial for maintaining past information (memory) while incorporating new inputs (learning). Other scientific topics that she explores include, cellular and systems correlates of neuropsychiatric conditions, sleep, body-brain hormone signaling, and mathematical modeling. She previously worked in the G.S. Walsh Lab studying how the nervous system assembles itself during early development and was awarded a MSc for their work.

Their music and art tries to unify the rational and emotional domains of science and art by giving emotional drives to science and rational inquiry to art. Neither intrinsically lacks rationality or emotionality, though they often are treated as such. Their current project SÉN, uses their own experimental data they've acquired and giving it life through electronic music. Past works include orchestral, chamber, and solo compositions.


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