I’m John Medina, a Seattle-based neuroscientist driven by a meddlesome, lifelong interest in how people behave. My long-term research interests are the genetics of psychiatric disorders, but my longer-term obsession is figuring out ways to integrate the science of behavior with the practice of behaving. 

I’ve spent most of my professional life as a private research consultant, initially to investigators in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. My client base expanded to include tech industries, governmental agencies, architectural firms, parenting programs, various education-related organizations and senior care professionals. For 20 years, I authored the column Molecules of the Mind for the Psychiatric Times.

These activities nurtured a strong interest in the public communication of brain science to lay audiences. I am the bestselling author of 11 books, including the New York Times bestseller Brain Rules. The Brain Rules series has been translated into more than 30 languages and is utilized as textbooks at universities throughout the world.

I maintain an affiliate professorship at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in its Department of Bioengineering, and speak often to public officials, business and medical professionals, school boards, and nonprofit leaders.