Allison Jane Doupe (1954 – 24 October 2014) was a Canadian psychiatrist, biologist, and neuroscientist. She is best known for her pioneering work in

avian Avian may refer to: *Birds or Aves, winged animals * Avian (given name) (russian: Авиа́н, link=no), a male forename Aviation *Avro Avian, a series of light aircraft made by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s * Avian Limited, a hang glider manufactu ...

neurobiology Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmen ...

that linked birdsong to human language, showing that birds and humans learn to communicate in similar ways. In 2014, Doupe was awarded the Pradel Research Award by the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

for her work on

neural circuits A neural circuit is a population of neurons interconnected by synapses to carry out a specific function when activated. Neural circuits interconnect to one another to form large scale brain networks. Biological neural networks have inspired th ...

and information processing in

songbirds A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds ( Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...

, which she pioneered as a model species for studying learning and memory.

Life

After graduating from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, Doupe obtained her MD and PhD in Neurobiology from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. She joined the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It co ...

Departments of Psychiatry and Physiology in 1993 as an assistant professor, and was promoted to full professor in 2000. In 2008 she was elected as a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...

. She died on 24 October 2014, of cancer.

Publications

Awards

*1993 Klingenstein Fellowship *1993 Searle Scholarship *2012

W. Alden Spencer Award The W. Alden Spencer Award is awarded to an investigator in recognition of outstanding research contributions by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Department of Neuroscience, and The Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia Univer ...

*2013 Cozzarelli Prize by

PNAS ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Scien ...

*2014 Pradel Research Award by the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doupe, Allison J. 1954 births 2014 deaths Canadian neuroscientists McGill University alumni University of California, San Francisco faculty Harvard Medical School alumni Canadian women neuroscientists Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers