Hannah Bayer, Ph.D.

Hannah Bayer, Ph.D. is a Senior Scientific Officer of the Neuroscience Collaborations. Through grantmaking, scientific convenings and the development of shared research resources, the collaborations address fundamental questions about brain function, with a focus on fields in which significant new developments have created novel opportunities for exploration. Bayer is the scientific lead for the Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain and the Simons Collaboration on Brain Energetics. She also works closely with the early careers program.

Prior to joining the Simons Foundation, Bayer served as Executive Director of the International Brain Laboratory, and before that as an Editor at the journal Nature Neuroscience. Bayer earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Haverford College and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from New York University where she studied the role of dopamine neurons in reinforcement learning and motor control. She completed her postdoctoral training in human decision making at Columbia University.