Stephen Macknik

Stephen is a Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, Physiology & Pharmacology--and an Empire Innovator Scholar--at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, where he studies visual, sensory and cognitive neuroscience. He is a member of the Academy of Magical Arts (aka The Magic Castle in Hollywood), the Magic Circle (UK), the Society of American Magicians, and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. His research and outreach activities have been written up in hundreds of media stories including many that have appeared in Scientific American, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The Times (London), The Evening Standard, The Boston Globe, USA Today, La Vanguardia, ScienceNews, Der Spiegel, The Scientist, New Scientist WIRED magazine, and dozens of other publications around the globe. Television and radio appearances include CBS Sunday Morning, The Discovery Channel, Catalyst (Australia), Horizon (KAET - PBS), and National Public Radio, in addition to dozens of radio interviews all over the world. Stephen is a columnist for Scientific American. He shares his column with Susana Martinez-Conde, and the write about the neuroscience of illusions. One of these contributions is the most downloaded article in sciam.com history. SciAm has published several special issues of dedicated completely to the authors previous and ongoing contributions on illusions. Stephen is a founding board members of the Neural Correlate Society, and Susana serves as its Executive Chair. NCS hosts the annual "Best Illusion of the Year Contest." The contest's website maintains an archive of visual illusions and their explanations for a broad audience, and receives over three million hits per year. Stephen serves on the board of advisors for Scientific American: Mind and in addition to his column he has published several feature articles in Scientific American (circulation > 1,000,000 readers) and several of its family of journals. Their academic publication credits include contributions to Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.