Russell Poldrack is a distinguished leader in cognitive neuroscience and reproducible research methodology. He currently serves as the Albert Ray Lang Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, where he also holds appointments in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences by courtesy. Additionally, he chairs the Department of Psychology and serves as Associate Director of Stanford Data Science. After earning his PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995, he completed a four-year postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. His academic career has spanned prestigious institutions including Harvard Medical School, UCLA, and the University of Texas at Austin before returning to Stanford in 2014.
Dr. Poldrack's groundbreaking research employs neuroimaging to elucidate the brain systems underlying decision making, executive function, and learning processes. His laboratory has made significant contributions to understanding the neural mechanisms of cognitive control, with his work amassing over 100,000 citations according to Google Scholar. Beyond his empirical research, he has pioneered the development of open science infrastructure for neuroscience, creating essential neuroinformatics platforms including Openneuro.org and Neurovault.org that have transformed data sharing practices in the field. His leadership in establishing the Cognitive Atlas ontology has provided a critical framework for standardizing cognitive neuroscience terminology and enhancing research reproducibility across laboratories worldwide.
As director of the Stanford Center for Open and Reproducible Science, Dr. Poldrack has become a global advocate for transparent and reproducible research practices in neuroscience and beyond. His influence extends through his mentorship of numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who have gone on to establish their own independent research programs. He serves as a thought leader in the open science movement, frequently consulted by funding agencies and academic institutions on best practices for research transparency. Currently, his laboratory continues to advance both cognitive neuroscience and methodological innovation, with ongoing projects investigating self-regulation mechanisms in behavioral health and developing next-generation tools for data sharing and analysis that promise to further elevate standards of scientific rigor in the neurosciences.
