Ali H. Brivanlou is currently the Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Molecular Embryology at Rockefeller University, as the head of the University’s laboratory. Brivanlou uses in vitro attached human embryos and genome-edited “synthetic embryos” derived from human embryonic stem cells to unveil the molecular, cellular, and embryological basis of early human development. His studies employ high-resolution quantitative approaches, and span both theoretical physics and molecular embryology. The lab is particularly interested in the emergence of the human brain and modeling neurodegenerative diseases.