His discovery— part of the brain acts like an internal GPS system— has transformed neuroscientists’ understanding of the brain’s ability to navigate. The discovery answers the question which has mystified scientists for centuries: how we know where we are?
The 75-year-old mastermind has published numerous papers on nerve cells in his career which spans four decades.
He was awarded one half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014. He also holds dual citizenship of the US and the UK.
Education
John O’Keefe was born on November 18, 1939 in New York to Irish immigrant parents. He received his bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York in 1963. He went on to study for his doctoral degree in physiological psychology at McGill University in Montreal in 1964.
He went to University College London in 1967 as a postdoctoral working with the late Patrick Wall.  He has been there ever since, and was awarded a professorship in 1987.Â
Discovery
O’Keefe and his student Jonathan Dostrovsky discovered place cells in 1971 and his publications on them were highly cited. The place cells and nerve cells discovered make it possible for the brain to determine position and map the environment.
Awards
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.  In 2007, he received the British Neuroscience Association Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Neuroscience and in 2008 he received the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies European Journal of Neuroscience Award.
In 2013 he received the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize.