David McCormick is Presidential Chair and Director of the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon and Professor Emeritus at Yale University. His research goal is to provide a cellular and circuit level description of spontaneous and task-related activity in mammalian brain networks, particularly in relation to sleep-wake cycles and rapid variations within the waking state and how they impact attention and performance. While prior investigations in his laboratory have examined the ionic, cellular, circuit, and neuromodulatory details of patterns of activity in thalamocortical circuits, the graduate students and postdocs in his laboratory are currently investigating the mechanisms by which rapid variations in cortical and thalamocortical circuits relate to waking behavior, behavioral state, and the apparent noisiness of the brain. David McCormick is a fellow of the US National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is honored to participate in teaching neuroscience to Tibetan Buddhist monks at Drepung Monastic University in Mundgod, India.