Rebecca Leshan is Executive Director of The Banbury Center, the think tank-style conference center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory recognized internationally for its closed discussion workshops in areas ranging from frontier and translational science to education and policy issues. As Banbury’s executive director, she leads all aspects of The Center’s programs, from selecting the topics for meetings and working with expert leads, to overseeing implementation and impact.
Prior to joining Banbury in 2016, Rebecca was a regional director (Eastern USA) for the UK Government’s Science & Innovation Network. In this role, she worked to strengthen UK-US collaboration in science and engineering, as well as advising policymakers on science and technology issues. This work largely centered on cyber security and biosciences.
Rebecca received her Ph.D. in Molecular & Integrative Physiology from the University of Michigan, and conducted postdoctoral research at Rockefeller University, focusing on neural mechanisms controlling body weight and arousal.