Amy Bernard Named Incoming Director of Life Sciences

As Director of Life Sciences at The Kavli Foundation, Dr. Bernard will set the strategic vision for the life sciences program and leverage the synergies with the physical sciences and science and society programs to advance the foundation’s mission. She will also oversee the seven Kavli Institutes in neuroscience, scientific society partnerships, foundation convenings, and represent The Kavli Foundation in neuroscience initiatives such as the U.S. BRAIN Initiative, International Brain Initiative, and Neurodata Without Borders. She joins the foundation on August 6, 2021.

“Dr. Bernard is an experienced leader and innovator whose work in both academic and nonprofit research organizations has greatly contributed to the life sciences and technology fields,” remarked Kavli Foundation President, Cynthia M. Friend. “The breadth of her scientific expertise – from neuroscience and information technology to molecular genetics and biophysics – is an asset in our efforts to advance science within and across the fields of astrophysics, theoretical physics, nanoscience and neuroscience. We are delighted she is joining The Kavli Foundation to lead our life sciences program.”

For more than 30 years, Dr. Bernard has worked in bioscience and technology at academic and nonprofit research organizations, most recently as the director of science and technology strategy at the Allen Institute. She joined the Allen Institute in 2005 and held several roles contributing to the institute’s success, including leading the Research & Development and Structured Science divisions for the Allen Institute for Brain Science (2009-2016), where she oversaw the generation of petabytes of data for research initiatives such as the Allen Connectivity Atlas, Allen Developing Brain Atlas, and Allen Human Brain Atlas. She also served as Product Architect for the brain-map.org portal and led the technology product program to deliver open data and tools to the research community, until 2019. Prior to joining the Allen Institute, Dr. Bernard’s research focused on gene regulation underlying brain development at the University of Washington.

“The Kavli Foundation is a remarkable organization, and I am thrilled about the opportunity to build upon their tradition of excellence,” says Amy Bernard, regarding her decision to join Kavli. “It has been an honor to develop and deliver open science initiatives at the Allen Institute. As Director of Life Sciences at Kavli, I look forward to amplifying the benefit and impact of basic science research through partnering with scientists across the globe."

Dr. Bernard has authored over 70 publications in neuroscience, molecular genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, imaging, physiology and open science. She has served on numerous expert panels, advisory boards and review committees for organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. She received a Ph.D. in Biophysics and Genetics from the University of Colorado, where she studied molecular signaling mechanisms of cell growth, and her B.A. in Natural Sciences and Mathematics from Bard College in New York State.