Current and former Neuroscience Department researchers named 2026 Jane Coffin Childs Fellows

July 7, 2026

Adam Lowet, a postdoctoral researcher in lab of Neuroscience faculty member Michael Yartsev and Francesco (Frank) Lanfranchi, a former graduate student in the lab of Neuroscience faculty member Doris Tsao have been named 2026 Jane Coffin Childs Fellows by the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research (JCC Fund).

The JCC Fund supports fundamental scientific research that advances our understanding of the causes, treatments, and cures for human disease. The fellowships are given to outstanding postdoctoral fellows based on their prior research accomplishments, research plans, and proposed scientific environment and mentors.

In the Yartsev lab, Lowet will investigate the computational and biological mechanisms underlying social decision-making using an unorthodox model system: the Egyptian fruit bat, a highly social animal.

In Tirin Moore’s lab at Stanford University, Lanfranchi will study neural circuits that facilitate how internal goals are maintained and translated into action — one of the fundamental functions that neurological diseases disrupt.

Read more from the JCC Fund.

Headshots of Francesco Lanfranchi and Adam Lowet

From left to right: Francesco Lanfranchi and Adam Lowet