David Zimmerman

2025 PhD Graduate in Biophysics
DZimmerman Photo
Laboratories of Professor Aravinthan Samuel and Professor Benjamin de Bivort, Department of Physics/ Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Northwest Building, Room 25752 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
dzimmerman@g.harvard.edu

Dissertation Title: Principles of sensory integration and behavioral flexibility in Drosophila: symmetry, plasticity, and variability

PhD Dissertation Advisors: Dr. Aravinthan Samuel and Dr. Benjamin de Bivort, Department of Physics/ Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

David was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics from Stanford University (as well as a master's degree in art history). Based in the lab of Aravi Samuel (Physics) and co-advised by Ben de Bivort (OEB), David studied how olfactory memories are integrated across the left and right sides of the larval fly brain. Outside of science, some of David's favorite things include early music, word games, and photographs by Hiroshi Sugimoto.