David Clark

About

David Clark is a theoretical neuroscientist and Research Fellow at the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he earned a B.A. in Physics and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and subsequently worked as a research assistant in computational neuroscience at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with Kristofer Bouchard. Clark pursued a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Behavior at Columbia University under the guidance of Larry Abbott, while also collaborating with Ashok Litwin-Kumar, Richard Axel, and Haim Sompolinsky. His dissertation developed theories of the emergent dynamics of large neural circuits, bridging approaches from physics, computer science, and neuroscience.

Research Focus

Clark is interested in theoretical and conceptual questions about how neural circuits give rise to brain function. Neural circuits present essential features that demand theoretical approaches: they contain vast numbers of neurons, exhibit nonlinear dynamics, involve complex recurrent interactions, and undergo connectivity changes across multiple timescales. Clark studies abstract models that capture these features and develops analytical theories, drawing on tools from statistical physics and machine learning, to link connectivity with emergent dynamics. His goal is to understand not only how neural circuits operate, but also, more challengingly, how these features together support computation and learning.