A native of New York City, Gerald Edelman graduated from Ursinus College in 1950 and received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1954. After training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Edelman served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps. From 1955 to 1957, he earned his Ph.D. at the Rockefeller Institute (now University) in 1960. In 1972, Dr. Edelman won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for figuring out the structure of the antibody molecule.

Dr. Edelman is currently Director of the Neurosciences Institute and president of its not-for profit parent organization. He has formulated a theory describing the development and organization of higher brain functions, known as neuronal group selection. Dr. Edelman's continuing work in theoretical neuroscience includes designing machines like Darwin VI that are capable of carrying out tests of this theory. He has described and expanded his theory in three books: Neural Darwinism, The Remembered Present, and Bright Air, Brilliant Fire as well as in his most recent work with Giulio Tononi: The Universe of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination. In addition to the Nobel Prize, Dr. Edelman has won numerous awards and honors and is the author of more than 450 research publications. He is married and has three children.

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Profile: Gerry Edelman