Dr. Sweatt’s laboratory studies biochemical mechanisms of learning and memory and mechanisms of learning and memory disorders, including mental retardation and aging related memory dysfunction. His textbook, Mechanisms of Memory, illustrated with original paintings, describes current models for the molecular and cellular basis of memory formation.

David Sweatt obtained his B.S. in chemistry from the University of South Alabama prior to receiving a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. He did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Columbia University Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, working on memory mechanisms in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate and Scientific Council Member Eric Kandel. He was a member of the neuroscience faculty at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas until 2006.