Dr. Tennekoon joined NINDS as a Health Program Specialist in May 2018. He earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Northwestern University with support from a NINDS T32 funded training program. Subsequently, he received postdoctoral training at the National Institute for Drug Abuse in Baltimore. Dr. Tennekoon’s research interests involved comparing differences in reward circuitry between healthy individuals and individuals who have maladaptive behaviors, such as smoking and other highly impulsive actions. He has used multifaceted approaches, including pharmacological and behavioral manipulations, MRI, and genetic studies to examine these underlying neural circuits. Throughout his career, Dr. Tennekoon has had a passion for training and has been involved in several career development symposia, workshops, and other training related activities.