
Dr. Sarah Stern
Dr. Stern’s group is uncovering how genetic and circuit-level mechanisms drive flexible, motivated behavior, bridging molecular neuroscience and real-world behavioral outcomes.
Dr. Sarah Stern is a Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, where she leads the Integrative Neural Circuits and Behavior group studying how learning and internal drives interact at genetic and circuit levels to shape flexible behavior. She earned her Ph.D. from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, completed postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University with Dr. Jeffrey Friedman, and has been recognized with awards from the NIH, BRAIN Initiative, and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. A STAT Wunderkind and One Mind Rising Star, Dr. Stern’s work bridges molecular neuroscience with behavioral insights to uncover the mechanisms guiding motivated behaviors.