Linda J. Richards AO, PhD, FAA, FAHMS is the Edison Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine.
Prior to this role, she was a Professor of Neuroscience and Deputy Director (Research) of the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland. Professor Richards’ laboratory focuses on the development of the cerebral cortex and cerebral connectivity, in particular, the development of the corpus callosum.

In 2015 she co-founded an International Consortium for the Corpus Callosum and Cerebral Connectivity (IRC5) with colleagues from Melbourne, San Francisco, France and Brazil. The consortium brings together clinicians and scientists working to identify the causes of developmental brain disorders and how best to provide support and care for affected individuals and their families. Professor Richards is a scientific advisor and patron of the support group AusDoCC (Australian Disorders of the Corpus Callosum).

Service highlights include being past President of the Australasian Neuroscience Society (ANS) and a previous Chair of the Australian Brain Alliance, an organization founded to advocate for an Australian Brain Initiative. She was a founding member of the International Brain Initiative and worked to develop strong ties between the Brain Initiatives in different countries. From 2018-2020 she was appointed to the Australian Federal Government’s Million Minds Mission Advisory Panel. She is currently on the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Brain Laboratory.

Professor Richards’s awards include the 2004 Charles Judson Herrick Award from AAA, the 2010 Nina Kondelos award from ANS, the 2020 Pinkney J Harmon and the Krieg Cortical Discoverer Awards from the Cajal Club. From 2011-2021 Professor Richards was an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow. In 2015 she was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and in 2016 she was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. Professor Richards was awarded the Order of Australia in 2019, one of the highest honors to be bestowed on its citizens by the Australian Government.

Professor Richards is passionate about the public awareness of science and in 2006 she founded the Australian Brain Bee Challenge, a competition for high school students to learn about the brain. Over 30,000 high school students have participated in the challenge and students from Australia have won the international brain bee competition three times and placed in every event since 2006.

Professor Linda Richards is the Edison Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University in St Louis. Linda is also our AusDoCC patron and has supported AusDoCC since its inception.
She is one of the giants on whose shoulders we stand.