DR JAKE FAIRNIE IS A BRAIN SCIENTIST FROM UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

Jake has a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University College London’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.

He is currently Head of Communications for the European Research Infrastructure for translational medicine (EATRIS). He is the inventor of BrainWire - a patented way of visualising medical scan data. He is also Honorary Lecturer on the MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience programme (Communication Skills in Cognitive Neuroscience) and BSc Psychology course (Perception, Attention and Action module), and holds an Honorary Research Fellowship at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (a charity dedicated to providing training and support for child mental health services).

Jake also teaches foundational neuroscience on a Guardian Masterclass that helps people develop healthy digital habits in collaboration with Mind Over Tech (read more here).

Together with Dr Vanessa Puetz, Jake created a free online course on 'Childhood Adversity: The Impact of Childhood Maltreatment on Mental Health' on the Future Learn platform. Click here to explore the connection between childhood adversity and mental health, and enhance your knowledge of mental health in young people.

Jake was previously Digital Communications Lead at the University College London Division of Psychology and Language Sciences (UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences) and held a Postdoctoral Research Associate post at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (UCL Institute of Education) and a Postdoctoral Researcher post in the UCL Attention and Cognitive Control Laboratory.

He has also been Science Consultant on James May ‘Things You Need To Know’ (Brain special; BBC2), Britain’s Brightest (BBC1), Hidden Talent (Channel 4), Open University (Psychology Course) and Weird Warfare (History Channel USA).

You can read some of Jake's published scientific research here:

• Hobbiss, Fairnie, Jafari & Lavie. (2019). Attention, Mindwandering, and Mood. Consciousness and Cognition. Volume 72, Pages 1-18. (click here to read)

• Remington & Fairnie. (2017). A sound advantage: Increased auditory capacity in autism. Cognition. Volume 166, Pages 459-465. (click here to read)

• Fairnie, Moore & Remington. (2016). Missing a Trick: Auditory Load Modulates Conscious Awareness in Audition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. (click here to read)

• Lavie, N. & Fairnie, J. (2015). Age of Distractions. BrainFocus White Paper Report. (click here to read)

• Carmel, D., Fairnie, J., & Lavie, N. (2012). Weight and see: loading working memory improves incidental identification of irrelevant faces. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 286. (click here to read)

Jake has spent time with the Duchess of Cambridge to talk about brains and show her the brain scanner at the Birkbeck-UCL Centre for Neuroimaging. Kate is passionate about childhood mental health and is keen to learn about how children's brains develop emotionally and socially. Find out more here.