Jennifer S. Lund (28 July 1940 - 18 July 2025) was a distinguished anatomist who provided insight and research to the organization of feedforward and feedback circuits in the

neocortex The neocortex, also called the neopallium, isocortex, or the six-layered cortex, is a set of layers of the mammalian cerebral cortex involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, generation of motor commands, ...

, observed the pruning of

dendritic spines A dendritic spine (or spine) is a small membrane protrusion from a neuron's dendrite that typically receives input from a single axon at the synapse. Dendritic spines serve as a storage site for synaptic strength and help transmit electrical sig ...

in the primate visual system, and helped describe the patterns of lateral connectivity in the

cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of Neuron, neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays ...

Early life

Jennifer S. Lund was born July 28, 1940, in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England. Her parents were artists, and both of her siblings worked in the arts, so therefore her interest in science was new to the family. Initially, Jennifer found herself drawn to botany, but studies in that subject were discouraged at the time. Ultimately the mystery of

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

led her towards a career in

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

Education

Jennifer began her academic career by earning a bachelor's degree in zoology at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Following this achievement, she began a year-long position working as a technical assistant to Jack Downer's research lab in the

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

department at University College. She then began her Ph.D. in neuroscience in the same lab, working for

John Zachary Young John Zachary Young (18 March 1907 – 4 July 1997), generally known as "JZ" or "JZY", was an English zoologist and neurophysiologist, described as "one of the most influential biologists of the 20th century". Biography Young went to school at ...

. After traveling with her husband to the United States for better more job opportunities, she began a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

with William Chambers at their institute of Neurological Sciences. Jennifer then followed this experience with a second Post-Doctoral Fellowship with Peter Ralston at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, and began studying

corpus callosum The corpus callosum (Latin for "tough body"), also callosal commissure, is a wide, thick nerve tract, consisting of a flat bundle of commissural fibers, beneath the cerebral cortex in the brain. The corpus callosum is only found in placental ...

Personal life

Jennifer Lund met her husband in Jack Downer’s laboratory when he wittily insulted her glass washing skills.

Raymond Lund Raymond Douglas Lund (born 10 February 1940) is a British anatomist. He was a professor of ophthalmology at the John Moran Eye Center, (University of Utah). He was previously professor of anatomy at the University of Cambridge. He was also a p ...

balanced the act of husband and scientific mentor. While working in Seattle in the mid-70s, Jennifer gave birth to two sons. She was able to manage raising her children while working on her research. Jennifer Lund died on 18 July 2025 in

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a Port, port city in and the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the ...

Research

Jennifer Lund's first research project started right out of the lab she first worked for. This research was with

split-brain Split-brain or callosal syndrome is a type of disconnection syndrome when the corpus callosum connecting the two hemispheres of the brain is severed to some degree. It is an association of symptoms produced by disruption of, or interference w ...

monkeys, examining the phenomenon of interhemispheric transfer of

visual memory Visual memory describes the relationship between perceptual processing and the Encoding (memory), encoding, Storage (memory), storage and Recall (memory), retrieval of the resulting neural representations. Visual memory occurs over a broad time ...

. After her first year as a technician she became a Ph.D. student and this led to the idea of determining if monkeys who were split-brain could retain compensation when the vision was switched between the eyes to the side of a brain lacking the experience. After completing her thesis, her husband and she moved to the University of Pennsylvania where they found new jobs in the neuroscience department. After a year the two traveled to Seattle for a position at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

for 11 years. Lund went on to study the

visual cortex The visual cortex of the brain is the area of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe. Sensory input originating from the eyes travels through the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalam ...

in the primate visual system, as this remained her primary study for the rest of her career. After a period of time in Charleston at the

Medical University of South Carolina The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in Charleston, South Carolina. It opened in 1824 as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medical facilities acros ...

, in 1983, Raymond Lund took a chair position at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. Here she became a Professor of

Psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

, Professor of

Neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

, Professor of

Ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

, and Professor of

Anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

. Her last career move before retiring was working at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

for their Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.

Honors

Jennifer S. Lund held many positions throughout her career. She was a Fellow of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academy, National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its ...

and served on the Scientific Advisory Board for England’s

Medical Research Council (United Kingdom) The Medical Research Council (MRC) is responsible for co-coordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI), which came into operation 1 April 2018, and brings together ...

. She has served as Chair of the Program Committee and Treasurer for the USA

Society for Neuroscience The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is a professional society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., for basic scientists and physicians around the world whose research is focused on the study of the brain and nervous system. It is especially well k ...

, and Executive Secretary for

International Brain Research Organization The International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) is the global federation of neuroscience organizations that aims to promote and support neuroscience around the world. The organization accomplishes this through training, teaching, collaborativ ...

(IBRO). She was also the Secretary-General of IBRO. She won the Krieg Cortical Discoverer Medal in 1992 for her work in investigating the

and its connections.Cajal Club. (n.d.). Krieg Cortical Kudos Awards. Retrieved March 28, 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lund, Jennifer S. 1940 births Living people British neuroscientists British women neuroscientists 20th-century British women scientists Alumni of University College London Academics of University College London Women vision scientists