Assistant Professor, Departments of Neuroscience and Physiology and Psychiatry

Dr. Basu’s research experience and training has allowed her to develop expertise in the fields of synaptic transmission, excitatory and inhibitory circuit interactions, dendritic integration and long-term plasticity, and neuronal ensemble coding in learning and memory formation.

Dr. Basu grew up in Calcutta, India, and attended Presidency College, one of the country’s oldest institutions of Western education, to earn a bachelor’s degree in physiology. A year of the BSc curriculum was dedicated to neurophysiology and biophysics, which drove her fascination for neuroscience, specifically synaptic physiology. Dr. Basu’s tryst with hands-on neuroscience research began with an undergraduate summer project with Dr. Rohit Mittal at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India, exploring the presynaptic interactions of endocytosis protein Dynamin.

In the fall of 2002, Dr. Basu went on to pursue graduate studies in neuroscience at the International Max Planck Research School, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany, a hub for research in synaptic transmission and the birthplace of patch clamp electrophysiology. Learning how to patch neurons to look at Ca2+-dependent vesicular release probability during lab rotation was a technological revelation for Dr. Basu. In 2003, when her primary PhD thesis advisor Dr. Christian Rosenmund moved his lab to the United States, she stayed on in Dr. Erwin Neher’s research group at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany, to finish an MSc. There she developed a biophysical method to assess the kinetics of neurotransmitter release.

In 2004, Dr. Basu enrolled in the neuroscience graduate program at Baylor College of Medicine and continued her PhD thesis in Dr. Rosenmund’s lab. Her PhD research focused on molecular mechanisms of synaptic vesicle release and short-term plasticity in hippocampal cultured neurons, examining structure-function analysis of presynaptic priming factor Munc13.

Dr. Basu realized that moving forward, she wanted to study activity dependent changes in synaptic transmission in neural circuits to better understand the processes of learning and memory.

At the end of 2007, Dr. Basu joined Dr. Steven Siegelbaum’s laboratory at Columbia University for her postdoctoral training. She examined how excitatory and inhibitory circuits interact to shape dendritic integration and plasticity in hippocampal slices, and learning behavior in vivo.

Dr. Basu started her own laboratory in 2015 at NYU Langone’s Neuroscience Institute as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Physiology and the Department of Psychiatry. In my lab, we aim to identify synaptic and behavioral correlates of learning-related activity in genetically defined circuits of the mammalian hippocampus and entorhinal cortex.

We have established strong collaborations within and outside NYU Langone to work on developing computational models, machine learning algorithms, large scale data analysis, genetic reagents, and translating to human models of neural disease.

Dr. Basu serves as a co-director of the Medical Scientist Training (MD/PhD) Program and is chair of the Neuroscience Institute Committee for Diversity and Inclusion. She is passionate about science outreach and has participated in the Art of Science artist-in-residence LIGO project, NYU TEDX talk, Neuwrite NYU, and hosting young students in our laboratory to introduce them to the fascinating world of science and research. Dr. Basu strongly believes in cultivating a research environment that promotes a healthy work-life balance and diversifies our field in terms of gender equity and minorities representation.

In parallel to her role as a principal investigator and neuroscientist, Dr. Basu is the mother of two little humans—Ari and Mira. We enjoy exploring modern art, visiting bookstores and parks, and food-ranging in the city. Outside of lab, Dr. Basu likes experimental cooking, painting, and animals.