Dr. Carla Shatz is a distinguished neurobiologist and the Sapp Family Provostial Professor of Biology and Neurobiology at Stanford University. Dr. Shatz is renowned for her groundbreaking research on the development of the visual system and the mechanisms underlying brain plasticity during critical periods of development. Her pioneering work has greatly advanced our understanding of brain development, plasticity, and the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Shatz's innovative approaches have opened up new avenues for potential treatments and continue to inspire the scientific community.

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Throughout her career, Dr. Shatz has made seminal contributions to our understanding of how early brain circuits transform into adult connections. Her discovery that spontaneous activity in the developing retina is necessary for the proper wiring of the visual system has had profound implications for understanding developmental disorders. Dr. Shatz's work has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards and honors, including the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience and the Gruber Neuroscience Prize, both of which are international awards that recognize exceptional research discoveries. She has also been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Prior to joining Stanford, she held faculty positions at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, Berkeley.