Hannah Critchlow

Hannah Critchlow is an internationally acclaimed neuroscientist, bestselling author and broadcaster who inspires audiences with practical insights into the brain, leadership and human potential. Combining world-class research with engaging storytelling, she equips organisations with neuroscience-backed strategies for resilience, collaboration, decision making and thriving in an AI-driven future.

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Science

Media & Journalism

Biography:

Hannah Critchlow is an internationally acclaimed neuroscientist, broadcaster and Fellow at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, recognised for translating complex brain science into practical strategies that inspire individuals and organisations. Renowned for her engaging communication style, she explores topics including decision-making, resilience, collective intelligence, leadership and the future of human thinking in the age of artificial intelligence. Alongside her academic work, Hannah advises businesses, including asset management firms, facilitates live scientific discussions, judges prestigious science book and film prizes, and helps scientists communicate their research more effectively, making her a highly sought-after motivational speaker for corporate and conference audiences.

Hannah's fascination with the human brain began during her undergraduate studies, where she earned three University Prizes as Best Biologist before undertaking doctoral research in neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. Her PhD investigated dendritic spine plasticity in schizophrenia, research that earned her a Doctorate and led directly to a Research Fellowship at Magdalene College. She also completed a science policy and communications internship at the University of Oxford, exploring how neuroscience could shape education and child wellbeing. Beyond research, Hannah held strategic leadership roles with Cambridge Neuroscience and the British Neuroscience Association, successfully lobbying for neuroscience funding, organising major scientific conferences and expanding public engagement with brain science. She later founded the neuroscience strand of The Naked Scientists, helping bring cutting-edge research to audiences worldwide through BBC and international broadcasts.

Alongside her academic career, Hannah has become one of Britain's most recognisable science communicators. She has appeared across BBC, ABC and international television and radio, presenting programmes including Family Brain Games with Dara Ó Briain, Tomorrow's World Live, Destiny and the Brain and The Secret Life of… series. She is the bestselling author of 'Consciousness: A Ladybird Expert Guide', 'The Science of Fate', 'Joined Up Thinking' and 'The 21st Century Brain: How to Future-Proof Your Mind in the Age of AI', with several titles becoming Sunday Times bestsellers and being translated into multiple languages. Her achievements include being named among the UK's Top 100 Scientists, recognised as one of Nature's Cambridge Rising Stars in Life Sciences, elected to the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Brunel University for science communication and selected to receive the 2026 Rosalind Franklin Medal from the Humanist Society.

As a motivational speaker, Hannah combines scientific credibility with captivating storytelling to help audiences better understand themselves, their teams and the rapidly changing world around them. Drawing on decades of neuroscience research, she explains how the brain influences creativity, collaboration, resilience, ethical decision making and high performance, providing practical techniques that people can immediately apply in their professional and personal lives. Whether addressing business leaders, educators or global conference audiences, Hannah delivers evidence-based insights with warmth, humour and optimism. Her ability to make complex science accessible empowers audiences to embrace change, think collectively, unlock human potential and confidently prepare for the opportunities and challenges of the future.

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Videos:

Testimonials

“Hannah is a top professional – diligent and easy to work with. Hannah has the ability to simplify complex neuroscience into content that is easily digestible. She delivered a fantastic session full of knowledge and practical ideas for leaders to take away and use immediately.” – Brendan Barns, Founder London Business Forum

“We’ve worked with Hannah for 4 years….she has an exceptional ability to communicate complicated ideas about science and technology in a way that speaks to the general public and to schools audiences. She’s lectured about developments in neuroscience at Hay several times to audiences of 1,000 and 1,750. It’s a scale that’s challenging for most teachers. She works the space like a rockstar. Each time she has had the highest possible response rating from the audiences, both from students and from professional adults.” – Peter Florence, Director of the Hay Festival

“Hannah was one of our favourite ever speakers at 5×15- she’s dynamic, and an incredible communicator of complex and profound ideas. She wowed our audience in Hackney with her laughing rats and astounding insights into the human brain- we can’t wait for her to come back to join us again.” – Daisy Leitch: Director of 5 x 15

“Hannah has been a leading presenter at the Cambridge Science Festival for many years, and thousands of people from schools and family audiences have really enjoyed her interactive demonstration lectures. Hannah’s clear and lively communication style has brought the subject of neuroscience alive and her popular talks have received great feedback. Hannah also carried out a number of thoughtful and targeted public engagement activities with community groups including Squeaky Gate, a charity empowering people including those with mental health issues through arts and music.” – Nicky Buckley, Former Head of Public Engagement, University of Cambridge

“The human brain is one of those subjects of such forbidding complexity that anything less than a clear, engaging, approachable and intelligent talk would leave an audience staring blankly at an imponderable galaxy of neurons and synapses. Hannah Critchlow’s lecture, to several hundred A-level Biology students, more than exceeded these testing requirements. She has the rare and important quality of being able to distil even the most recondite ideas for an audience beyond the laboratory and in doing so reminding a young audience that scientific inquiry is for anyone who is curious. It’s particularly exhilarating to see a group of students being guided expertly through the great leaps in understanding made in neuroscience, to learn about the truly wondrous advances still to be made and perhaps to wonder if they could be the ones who will be making the discoveries of the future.” – Dan Powell, Director of A’Level Science Live

“Hannah gave a talk at the How To Academy’s annual Conference on How To Change the World and she was absolutely fabulous. It was a totally inspiring talk that had the audience completely rapt. She is the most brilliant communicator of science.” – John Gordon, Director of the How to Change the World Academy

“Hannah Critchlow is the most brilliantly engaging speaker. She wowed a Shambala crowd of 200 at the festival in 2018, and we couldn’t wait to have her back this year. One of our absolute highlights of last year.” – Sophie Chatz, Shambala Festival programmer

Achievements

2026 – ‘The 21st Century Brain: How to Future-Proof Your Mind in the Age of AI’ was recognised as a Sunday Times bestseller and selected as one of New Scientist’s Best Books of 2026
2022 – Published ‘Joined Up Thinking’ and received an Honorary Doctorate from Brunel University for her contribution to science communication.
2019 – ‘The Science of Fate’ became a Sunday Times bestseller and was recognised by Nature as one of the University of Cambridge’s Rising Stars in Life Sciences.
2019 – Presented the BBC Two series Family Brain Games with Dara Ó Briain and the BBC Radio 4 documentary Destiny and the Brain.
2018 – Published ‘Consciousness: A Ladybird Expert Guide’ and served as a judge for the prestigious Wellcome Trust Science Book Prize.
2017 – Became Science Outreach Fellow and Fellow Commoner at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, expanding her public engagement and research activities.
2014 – Named one of the UK’s Top 100 Scientists by the UK Science Council and recognised as one of the University of Cambridge’s most inspirational women in science.
2008 – Awarded a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge, with research into schizophrenia leading to a Research Fellowship at Magdalene College.

How to Hire Hannah Critchlow

To book Hannah Critchlow as the speaker for your corporate event, function or conference, contact The Motivational Speakers Agency on 0207 0787 876 or email us at [email protected]. Alternatively use the enquiry form below and one of our official booking agents will call you back.

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