Simon Baron-Cohen is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of Trinity College, and Director of the Autism Research Centre (ARC), which he founded in 1997.
He is internationally recognised for pioneering autism research, authoring over 750 scientific papers and several influential theories, including mindblindness, prenatal sex steroid, and empathising-systemising theories of autism and cognitive sex differences.
He has written three popular science books (The Essential Difference, Zero Degrees of Empathy, and The Pattern Seekers), two academic works (Mindblindness and Prenatal Testosterone in Mind), and resources for parents, teachers, and individuals on the autism spectrum. His digital tools, Mind Reading and The Transporters, were both BAFTA-nominated.
His scientific contributions include identifying early signs of autism, exploring amygdala function, and linking genetics and prenatal biology to autism. He led the UK's first clinic for adults with suspected Asperger Syndrome (1999), advised the UN on autism and human rights, and is Founding Trustee of Autism Action and scientific advisor to Auticon.
Baron-Cohen is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the APA, and others. He was President of INSAR, chaired the NICE autism guidelines (Adults), and was founding co-editor of Molecular Autism. He is currently PI on major genetics and prenatal biology projects funded by the Wellcome Trust and SFARI, and leads research on autism and vulnerability.
He has supervised 45 PhD students and received a knighthood in 2021 for services to autism. In 2023, he was awarded the MRC Millennium Medal, the UK’s highest honour in medical research.
