During a ceremony at the Neuroscience 2019 conference, Hollis Cline, PhD, chair of the Scripps Research Department of Neuroscience in La Jolla, received the Mika Saltpeter Lifetime Achievement Award. The honor, bestowed by the Society for Neuroscience, recognizes highly accomplished neuroscientists who have significantly promoted the professional advancement of women in the field. 

Diane Lipscombe, PhD, president of the Society for Neuroscience, cited Cline as among “outstanding neuroscientists with exemplary careers who have also devoted themselves to the professional development of women through generous and thoughtful mentorship.” Cline was commended for having trained “over 40 graduate students and postdoctoral scientists in her lab, over half of which have been women, and many more undergraduates and research assistants.” 

At Scripps Research, Cline has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of how sensory experience affects the development of brain structure and function. She combines molecular and genetic techniques with quantitative observations to reveal how activity-dependent brain plasticity is implemented at the cellular level. 

Cline’s contributions to science go beyond her exceptional research. She has served as a council member for the National Eye Institute and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and participated on the Blue Ribbon Panel for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Cline is also a past president of the Society for Neuroscience.