Ep. 19: Stimulating the brain with Damien Fair

An autistic researcher’s paper called attention to a huge disparity in autism funding research between children and adults. It nearly derailed her life.

The MacArthur Foundation “genius” discusses his return to his home state of Minnesota and why it’s important to protect the developing brain.

Season 3 will begin next year.

Dissuaded from pursuing theoretical physics and deterred by the “long feedback loop” in experimental physics, the National Academy of Sciences member took inspiration from “polymath” Watt Webb and “visionary” Stephen Smith—and learned to work “completely outside his comfort zone.”

Tian discusses protein function and structure, and the historic city in China where she was born.

The 2021 Breakthrough Prize winner explains how reading widely shaped her worldview, and discusses the vomeronasal organ.

The Korea University professor on her path to autism research and studying in the United States.

The National Medal of Science winner explains why she built her career around the crustacean and what it was like attending high school in a Hudson River town.

The Dartmouth College researcher talks about her quest to understand behavior and doing neuroscience “in the woods.”

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator discusses what drew him to study the brain and his current work at the University of California, San Francisco.