Caroline Montojo, Ph.D., is president of the Dana Foundation and a member of the Science Philanthropy Alliance’s board. Prior to joining the foundation in 2021, she was director of Life Sciences and the director of Brain Initiatives at The Kavli Foundation.

Dr. Montojo has been deeply involved in largescale neuroscience initiatives, including the U.S. BRAIN Initiative and the International Brain Initiative (IBI). With the latter, she spearheaded the development of an innovative framework, which aims to advance neuroscience through collaboration and knowledge sharing among the nationally sponsored brain initiatives around the world. She also championed The Kavli Foundation’s strategic efforts in international neuroethics through partnerships with the Global Neuroethics Summit and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). She has served as an elected spokesperson for the IBI, speaking at multiple scientific conferences about both the IBI and The Kavli Foundation.

Prior to her work at The Kavli Foundation, Dr. Montojo completed postdoctoral research in the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research focused on investigating neural biomarkers for psychiatric illness using functional magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral approaches, for which she was awarded the Arnold Scheibel Distinguished Fellow in Neuroscience Award and the Stephen R. Mallory Schizophrenia Research Award. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Johns Hopkins University. The daughter of first-generation immigrants from the Philippines, Dr. Montojo credits her family for supporting her interest in science and its potential to make a positive impact on the world.