Image courtesy of Stanford University School of Medicine.
Ben Barres was a member of eLife’s Board of Reviewing Editors (BRE) from 2015 to 2016, during which time we benefited enormously from his scientific expertise and his limitless energy. Ben resigned from the BRE when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which eventually took his life.
eLife wishes to remember Ben, not only as one of the important scientists of his time, but for his unusual and special advocacy for young scientists, women, and scientists of diverse backgrounds. Those of us who knew him remember numerous times when he would insist that the status quo wasn’t good enough, and that justice and fairness required change. eLife joins the rest of the world in saying, “Ben, the world was better for your presence, and we mourn your loss.”
