Oliver L’Esperance’s first research experiences came as an undergraduate researcher in Dr. David Jarmolowciz’s neuroeconomics lab at the University of Kansas, examining chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment and its rescue by inhibition of heat shock proteins in rats. After obtaining his B.S. in neuroscience, L’Esperance remained at KU for his Ph.D., focusing on brain-wide changes in neuronal activation patterns following extended periods of visual deprivation, both in normally developing mice or in an early amyloidosis model of Alzheimer’s Disease. His first Ph.D. project emphasized the vulnerability of functional “hub” brain regions to exhibit impaired experience-dependent activity modulation, while his second project established the first brain-wide synaptic activity maps through a novel pharmacogenetic approach labeling active neurons and their presynaptic termini. After spending over 11 years in Lawrence, KS, L’Esperance joined the Juliano Lab at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD to characterize and test treatments for a ferret model of military traumatic brain injury. His current work centers on defining mTBI-related pathology and its rescue by various compounds using a combination of immunohistochemical and noninvasive in vivo neuroimaging. In his free time, L’Esperance records and produces original and cover music on the guitar and bass.