Heather McKellar, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Institute for Translational Neuroscience and Department of Neuroscience at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and has over fifteen years of administrative management and educational program development experience. Dr. McKellar studied with Dr. Joseph Gogos at Columbia University and received her PhD in cellular and molecular neuroscience. In graduate school she co-founded CUNO, the Columbia University Neuroscience Outreach group and was co-honored for this work with the 2011 Next Generation Award from SfN. She is founder of NOGN, the Neuroscience Outreach Group at NYU and formerly served as President of braiNY, the Greater NYC Chapter of SfN. Through her work with NOGN and braiNY, she continues to visit schools, to create events that target diverse audiences, and to organize "braiNY" programs that rely upon volunteers from multiple institutions.