Professor Tara Keck

Professor Tara has a degree in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University (USA), a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University (USA), and completed her post-doctoral internship at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, in Munich (Germany). She started her own MRC Career Development Fellow no Center for Developmental Neurobiology laboratory at King’s College London, moving it to UCL’s Biosciences Division.

Currently, Tara is a Researcher at Wellcome Senior Research Fellow and acts as Neuroscience Professor and International Senior Vice President at UCL’s Faculty of Life Sciences.

Her research focuses on neuroplasticity, specifically on how our experiences and external factors shape our brains in adult life and ageing. She examines synaptic plasticity mechanisms related to learning and memory, using a combination of behavioral neuroscience techniques and images. In addition, she studies how risk factors, such as loneliness and stressful events, affect our brains, both in sickness and in health, including ageing, illnesses, and mental health conditions. She also works in collaboration with the United Nations and NGOs in projects in several countries, studying how communities can engage in programs led by neuroscience to support mental well-being in underprivileged populations.

Throughout her career, professor Tara has received awards and recognition for her research, acting as a member of the International Advisory Panel on Population and Development, from the United Nations Population Fund, Eastern Europe and Central Asia; International consultant in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, from the United Populations Fund in Bangladesh; and Member of Royal Society’s International Programs Advisory Group. She received grants from funds such as Wellcome, Medical Research Council (MRC), British Council, European Research Council (ERC), and Royal Society.

For the professor, “the research consistently shows that more diverse teams are better at problem solving. Given the complex challenges society needs scientists to face, it is clear that we need to include different perspectives in several characteristics in scientific teams.”