# Mala Murthy

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American neuroscientist

Mala Murthy Born 1975 (age 50–51) Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stanford University Scientific career Institutions California Institute of Technology Princeton University Doctoral advisor Thomas Schwarz Richard Scheller Website https://mala-murthy.squarespace.com

**Mala Murthy** is an American neuroscientist who serves as the director of the [Princeton Neuroscience Institute](/source/Princeton_Neuroscience_Institute), and she is the Karol and Marnie Marcin '96 Professor of Neuroscience at [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University).[1] Her work centers around how the brain extracts important information from the sensory world and utilises that information to modulate behavior in a social context.[2][3][4] She is most known for her work in acoustic communication and song production in courting [Drosophila](/source/Drosophila_melanogaster) fruit flies.[5][6][7][8] Murthy and colleagues have also published an automated system (LEAP and SLEAP) for measuring animal pose in movies with one or more animals.[9][10]

## Education

Prof. Murthy received her B.S. in biology from [MIT](/source/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology). She was a Burchards scholar in the humanities and won the John L. Asinari prize for outstanding undergraduate research in the life sciences. She then received her PhD in Neuroscience from [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University), working with [Thomas Schwarz](/source/Thomas_Schwarz) and [Richard Scheller](/source/Richard_Scheller). Her thesis research centered on mechanisms of vesicle trafficking to cell membranes. She did postdoctoral work in systems neuroscience with Gilles Laurent at [Caltech](/source/California_Institute_of_Technology) as a [Helen Hay Whitney](/source/Helen_Hay_Whitney_Foundation) fellow stereotypy in the central brain of [Drosophila](/source/Drosophila_melanogaster), which is a region of the brain important for learning and memory.[11]

## Awards and recognition

- The [National Science Foundation](/source/National_Science_Foundation) CAREER Award[12]

- Alfred P. Sloan fellowship[13]

- Klingenstein fellowship[14]

- McKnight Scholar award[15]

- NINDS Research Program award

- Faculty Scholars at Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2016)[16]

- [Wiley Prize](/source/Wiley_Prize) in Biomedical Sciences (2026).[17]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Mala Murthy named PNI Director | Neuroscience"](https://pni.princeton.edu/news/mala-murthy-named-pni-director). *pni.princeton.edu*. Retrieved 2023-05-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Mala Murthy one of five Princeton professors among inaugural HHMI-Simons Faculty Scholars | Neuroscience"](https://pni.princeton.edu/news/mala-murthy-one-five-princeton-professors-among-inaugural-hhmi-simons-faculty-scholars). *pni.princeton.edu*. Retrieved 2020-02-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Mala Murthy | Neuroscience"](https://pni.princeton.edu/faculty/mala-murthy). *pni.princeton.edu*. Retrieved 2020-02-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Mala Murthy | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke"](https://www.ninds.nih.gov/funding/about-funding/research-program-award-r35/research-program-award-r35-recipients/mala-murthy). *www.ninds.nih.gov*. April 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Coen, Philip; Clemens, Jan; Weinstein, Andrew J.; Pacheco, Diego A.; Deng, Yi; Murthy, Mala (2014-03-13). ["Dynamic sensory cues shape song structure in Drosophila"](http://www.nature.com/articles/nature13131). *Nature*. **507** (7491): 233–237. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2014Natur.507..233C](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014Natur.507..233C). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/nature13131](https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature13131). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0028-0836](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0028-0836). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [24598544](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24598544). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [4406563](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4406563).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Clemens, Jan; Girardin, Cyrille C.; Coen, Philip; Guan, Xiao-Juan; Dickson, Barry J.; Murthy, Mala (2015-09-23). ["Connecting Neural Codes with Behavior in the Auditory System of Drosophila"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4629847). *Neuron*. **87** (6): 1332–1343. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.neuron.2015.08.014](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.neuron.2015.08.014). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0896-6273](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0896-6273). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [4629847](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4629847). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [26365767](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26365767). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [13264373](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:13264373).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Clemens, Jan; Coen, Philip; Roemschied, Frederic A.; Pereira, Talmo D.; Mazumder, David; Aldarondo, Diego E.; Pacheco, Diego A.; Murthy, Mala (2018-08-06). ["Discovery of a New Song Mode in Drosophila Reveals Hidden Structure in the Sensory and Neural Drivers of Behavior"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6830513). *Current Biology*. **28** (15): 2400–2412.e6. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2018CBio...28E2400C](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018CBio...28E2400C). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.cub.2018.06.011](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.cub.2018.06.011). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [6830513](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6830513). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [30057309](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30057309).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Calhoun, Adam J.; Pillow, Jonathan W.; Murthy, Mala (December 2019). ["Unsupervised identification of the internal states that shape natural behavior"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7819718). *Nature Neuroscience*. **22** (12): 2040–2049. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/s41593-019-0533-x](https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41593-019-0533-x). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1546-1726](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1546-1726). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [7819718](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7819718). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [31768056](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31768056). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [208279147](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:208279147).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Pereira, Talmo D.; Aldarondo, Diego E.; Willmore, Lindsay; Kislin, Mikhail; Wang, Samuel S.-H.; Murthy, Mala; Shaevitz, Joshua W. (January 2019). ["Fast animal pose estimation using deep neural networks"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6899221). *Nature Methods*. **16** (1): 117–125. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2019NatCB..16..117P](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019NatCB..16..117P). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/s41592-018-0234-5](https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41592-018-0234-5). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1548-7105](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1548-7105). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [6899221](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6899221). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [30573820](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30573820).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Pereira, Talmo D.; Tabris, Nathaniel; Li, Junyu; Ravindranath, Shruthi; Papadoyannis, Eleni S.; Wang, Z. Yan; Turner, David M.; McKenzie-Smith, Grace; Kocher, Sarah D.; Falkner, Annegret L.; Shaevitz, Joshua W. (2020-09-02). "SLEAP: Multi-animal pose tracking". [bioRxiv](/source/BioRxiv_(identifier)) [10.1101/2020.08.31.276246](https://doi.org/10.1101%2F2020.08.31.276246).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Murthy, Mala; Fiete, Ila; Laurent, Gilles (2008-09-25). ["Testing odor response stereotypy in the Drosophila mushroom body"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654402). *Neuron*. **59** (6): 1009–1023. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.neuron.2008.07.040](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.neuron.2008.07.040). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1097-4199](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1097-4199). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [2654402](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654402). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [18817738](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18817738).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["NIH Director's New Innovator Award Program - 2014 Award Recipients | NIH Common Fund"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190417233203/https://commonfund.nih.gov/newinnovator/AwardRecipients14). *commonfund.nih.gov*. 18 September 2018. Archived from [the original](https://commonfund.nih.gov/newinnovator/awardrecipients14) on April 17, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Past Fellows"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180314000756/https://sloan.org/past-fellows). *sloan.org*. Archived from [the original](https://sloan.org/past-fellows) on 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2020-10-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["The Esther A. & and Joseph Klingenstein Fund, Inc"](https://www.klingfund.org/fellows/fellows12.php). *www.klingfund.org*. Retrieved 2020-10-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Awardees"](https://www.mcknight.org/programs/the-mcknight-endowment-fund-for-neuroscience/scholar-awards/awardees/). *McKnight Foundation*. Retrieved 2020-10-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["2016 Faculty Scholars"](http://media.hhmi.org/FacultyScholars2016-gallery). *2016 Faculty Scholars*. Retrieved 2020-02-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** [Wiley Prize 2026](https://johnwiley2020news.q4web.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2026/The-24th-Annual-Wiley-Prize-in-Biomedical-Sciences-Awarded-for-Research-in-Connectomes/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mala Murthy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mala_Murthy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mala_Murthy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.