Pasko Rakic is a neuroscientist who studies brain development. He is recognized for elucidation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neuronal proliferation, migration and synaptogenesis during the development of the cerebral cortex. Another goal of his research is to gain insight into the genetic and environmental causes of developmental disorders of higher brain functions.

Pasko is using a multidisciplinary approach including the most advanced methods of molecular biology and genetics to study genes and their regulatory elements involved in cortical formation. He made seminal contributions to understanding the mode of neural stem cell divisions, the magnitude of programmed cell death and the mechanisms of neuronal migration that enables the cortical expansion during evolution that culminates in humans.

Pasko is founder of the Department of Neurobiology and the Kavli Institute of Neuroscience at Yale University. He is an enthusiastic spokesman for neuroscience at international forums. His discoveries and original conceptual insights into brain development are recognized by numerous awards, including the inaugural Kavli Neuroscience Prize.