H. A. Berlin

Heather A. Berlin is an American neuroscientist noted for her work in science communication and science outreach.[2] Her research focuses on brain-behavior relationships affecting the prevention and treatment of impulsive and compulsive psychiatric disorders.[3] She is also interested in the neural basis of consciousness,[4] dynamic unconscious processes,[5] and creativity.[6] Berlin is host of the PBS series Science Goes to the Movies,[7] the international Discovery Channel series Superhuman Showdown,[8][9] and StarTalk All-Stars[10] with Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

Heather Berlin
Born	Heather A. Berlin New York City, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	H. A. Berlin
Alma mater	Harvard University (MPH) University of Oxford (DPhil)
Spouse(s)	Baba Brinkman
Awards	Young Investigator Award American Neuropsychiatric Association Clifford Yorke Prize International Neuropsychoanalysis Society
Scientific career
Fields	Neuroscience Psychology Science Communication
Institutions	Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medicine
Thesis	Impulsivity, the orbitofrontal cortex and borderline personality disorder (2003)
Doctoral advisors	Susan Iversen Edmund Rolls[1]
Website	heatherberlin.com

Education and early life

Berlin was born in New York City to a Jewish family.[11] She received her doctorate in experimental psychology/neuropsychology from University of Oxford[1] where she was a student at Magdalen College, Oxford and her Master of Public Health from Harvard University specializing in psychiatric epidemiology and health care management/policy.[12] Berlin earned her Master's in psychology from The New School for Social Research and Bachelor of Science from Stony Brook University.[13]

Career and research

Berlin was a National Institute of Mental Health postdoctoral fellow in psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai working on compulsive, impulsive, personality, and anxiety disorders.[3] Berlin is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and a Visiting Scholar at the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. She trained in clinical neuropsychology at Weill Cornell Medicine in the Department of Neurological Surgery, and was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Vassar College, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Berlin's research has been published in American Journal of Psychiatry,[14] Journal of Personality Disorders, Psychiatry Research, Brain, and Scientific American[15] among others.

Passionate about science communication and promoting women in STEM, Berlin is a committee member of the National Academy of Sciences’ [16], the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) Technology Engagement with the Public (CoSTEP)[17], and The New York Times series TimesTalks.[18]

She co-wrote and stars in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway and Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, Off the Top, about the neuroscience of improvisation [19], and the new Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, Impulse Control[20]. Berlin has made numerous media appearances including on the History Channel,[21] Netflix (Chelsea Does Drugs with Chelsea Handler),[22] BBC World Service,[23] StarTalk Radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson,[24][25][26][27] Big Think,[28][29] Bill Nye: Science Guy documentary film,[30][31] Curious Minds and One World with Deepak Chopra,[32][33] StoryCollider[34] and TEDx.[4][35]

Awards and honors

Berlin has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including a Young Investigator Award from the American Neuropsychiatric Association, a Young Investigator Award from the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder, and the Clifford Yorke Prize from the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society. She won the 2015 BBC2 Christmas University Challenge as part of the Magdalen College, Oxford team.

Personal life

Berlin is married to the rapper and playwright Baba Brinkman. They have a daughter, born in November 2013, and a son, born in November 2016.[36]

References

1. Berlin, Heather (2003). Impulsivity, the orbitofrontal cortex and borderline personality disorder. ox.ac.uk (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 498650103. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.275651.
2. H. A. Berlin publications from Europe PubMed Central
3. "Heather Berlin | Mount Sinai - New York". Mount Sinai Health System.
4. "Heather Berlin TEDxYouth@KC talk".
5. "Heather Berlin Lucid NYC talk".
6. "Off the Top: The Neuroscience of Creativity". 92nd St Y.
7. "Science Goes to the Movies - Warp Drive". CUNY TV.
8. "Superhuman Showdown: Brain episode trailer".
9. "Superhuman Showdown Series trailer".
10. "About StarTalk All-Stars". StarTalk Radio Show by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
11. "The Science of Dating: Stories about sex and romance". The Story Collider. 6 July 2018.
12. "286: Dr. Heather Berlin: Capturing Creativity and Investigating Improvisation in the Brain". July 20, 2015.
13. "Heather Berlin SUNY Stony Brook 40 Under Forty Honoree".
14. Berlin, HA; Rolls, ET; Iversen, SD (2005). "Borderline personality disorder, impulsivity, and the orbitofrontal cortex". American Journal of Psychiatry. 162 (12): 2360–73. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.12.2360.
15. Berlin, HA; Koch, C. "Defense Mechanisms: Neuroscience Meets Psychoanalysis". Scientific American. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
16. "Exchange – NAS Science & Entertainment Exchange".
17. "Committee on Science and Technology Engagement with the Public (CoSTEP)". American Association for the Advancement of Science.
18. "New York Times Event Hub". timestalks.com. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
19. "Off the Top, reviews".
20. "Impuse Control, Edinburgh Fringe Festival". EdFringe.
21. "Heather Berlin". IMDb.
22. "Chelsea Does Drugs trailer".
23. "BBC World Service: The Forum". BBC.
24. "StarTalk Live! Big Brains at BAM (Part 1)".
25. "StarTalk Live! Big Brains at BAM (Part 2)".
26. "StarTalk Live! Big Brains at BAM (Part 3)".
27. "StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson - The Science of the Mind".
28. "The Neuroscience of Genius, Creativity, and Improvisation, with Heather Berlin". Big Think.
29. "Heather Berlin on the Link Between Genius and Disorder". Big Think.
30. "Bill Nye: Science Guy". IMDB.
31. "Bill Nye: Science Guy' Review". IndieWire.
32. "Heather Berlin & Dr. Deepak Chopra: The Neuroscience Of Consciousness". Curious Minds.
33. "Deepak Chopra interviews Heather Berlin". One World.
34. "Can a neuroscientist believe in life after death?". Story Collider.
35. "Heather Berlin TEDxAsburyPark talk".
36. "Rap Scholar". Orlando Magazine.