Obituaries

Eleanor Maguire was a visionary cognitive neuroscientist whose research transformed our understanding of how the brain supports memory, navigation, and imagination.

A founding father of neuroscience.

Lynn T. Landmesser, professor emerita of the Department of Neurosciences, School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, died on 29 November 2024 at the age of 80. In an illustrious and influential career that spanned more than four decades, she established central principles by which the complex and specific wiring of the vertebrate nervous system is established.

Ernest Arenas, Professor at the Karolinska Institutet, passed away on 15 September 2024 at the age of 62 in Stockholm, Sweden. Ernest made unique contributions to the field of Parkinson’s disease research, with a strong commitment to developing improved treatment strategies through cell replacement therapy.

What follows is not a detailed biography of Jim Simons, whose diversity of talents and activities as a mathematician, educator, administrator, life scientist, philanthropist and visionary in this country and abroad would fill several volumes. It is simply a glance at this wonderful man as I knew him in connection with his growing interest in life sciences and as a friend.

George Aghajanian died on July 4, 2023 in Guildford, Connecticut, at the age of 91. An electrophysiologist and innovator, George was a much-loved mentor, colleague and friend. His laboratory captured the first in vivo recordings of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine neurons. For over half a century, George’s research at the Yale University School of Medicine opened new fields of discovery in neuroscience.

Bud Craig, an outstanding neuroscientist, died on 15 July 2023 at age 71. Bud made unique contributions to the fields of pain and interoception, challenging major dogmas and offering powerful explanations for various phenomena including central pain and the subjective awareness of feelings, with great implications for our understanding of consciousness.

Peter Lakatos passed away on Sunday, 30 May 2021. He was 49 years old. Peter was a Research Scientist at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in New York State and a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. With Peter’s sudden death, neuroscience has lost a gentle giant.