Sir Colin Blakemore

Sir Colin Blakemore is Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience at Oxford and Professor of Neuroscience & Philosophy in the School of Advanced Study, University of London. From 2003-2007 he was Chief Executive of the UK Medical Research Council and he has played an advisory role on issues as diverse as the safety of cell phones, the use of animals in medical research, the ethics of research on human stem cells and the safety of food. His own research has been concerned with vision, early development of the brain and plasticity of the cerebral cortex. Currently he directs a major project, Rethinking the Senses, which is attempting to reconcile philosophical and scientific approaches to human perception. He also directs The Human Mind Project, which aims to define the major unsolved questions in the study of the mind. He has been President of the British Science Association, the British Neuroscience Association, the Physiological Society and the Society of Biology. He is strongly committed to the importance of engagement between scientists and the public and he is a frequent contributor on radio and television, and he writes in the national and international press about science and science policy.