Burcin Ikiz, PhD

I am a neuroscientist working at the intersection of brain health, climate change, planetary health, and global health policy. I am fascinated by one of the most important questions of our time: how does the world around us shape our brains and how can healthier brains help create healthier people, healthier communities, and ultimately a healthier planet?

For more than two decades, my work has explored the brain from multiple perspectives, from the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases to the effects of air pollution, extreme heat, wildfires, urban environments, and other ecological stressors on brain development, cognition, mental health, and healthy aging. My goal is to translate scientific discoveries into practical solutions that strengthen public health, inform policy, and inspire collective action.

While my early career focused on neurological disease, becoming a mother transformed the questions I wanted to ask as a scientist. I began thinking about the world future generations will inherit, and the role neuroscience could play in building healthier, more resilient societies. That question has shaped nearly everything I have done since.

In 2023, I founded EcoNeuro, a research and policy initiative that bridges neuroscience, environmental science, public health, and policy to advance brain health in a changing environment. Through EcoNeuro, I collaborate with researchers, governments, nonprofits, social justice organizations, and international institutions on projects spanning global research, policy translation, environmental justice, strategic advising, and science communication.

The following year, I founded the International Neuro Climate Working Group (NCWG) after realizing that no single person, discipline, institution, or country could address these challenges alone. Having grown up in Türkiye, I understood that environmental challenges and their solutions look different across the world. I wanted NCWG to bring together diverse disciplines, geographies, and lived experiences, with a strong commitment to elevating voices from low- and middle-income countries.

Today, NCWG has grown into a global network of more than 400 researchers, clinicians, policymakers, public health experts, community leaders, and people with lived experience across over 60 countries. Recognized by the World Economic Forum as a leading global initiative addressing the mental health dimensions of climate change, the network advances interdisciplinary research, education, policy, advocacy, capacity building, and collective action. Building this community and watching new collaborations and friendships emerge across disciplines and continents has been one of the most meaningful parts of my work.

I currently teach and conduct research as an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, where I also serve as a Faculty Fellow at the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health and an Affiliate of the Stanford Center for Human and Planetary Health. My research spans international collaborations examining how environmental exposures influence brain health across the lifespan and how this knowledge can inform prevention, adaptation, and resilience, including work on children’s brain health in India and brain aging in Latin America.

Beyond academia, I enjoy bringing people together across disciplines and sectors to turn science into action. I advise international organizations, including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the Council on Foreign Relations, contribute to international commissions and global assessments, and serve on scientific and advisory boards advancing climate change, mental health, planetary health, and health equity. My work has also contributed to global initiatives such as the State of Global Air report and WHO efforts on air pollution, brain health, and dementia prevention.

I am equally passionate about science communication and storytelling. My research and perspectives have been featured by The New York Times, The Guardian, Bloomberg, STAT, Psychology Today, and other international media outlets. I have spoken at the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, TEDx, the World Bank, and scientific organizations worldwide. In 2025, I was honored to be named a Grist 50 Climate Leader.

I am also co-editing a book with MIT Press, Ecological and Green Neuroscience: Reimagining the Brain’s Universe, which explores how neuroscience can deepen our understanding of the relationship between human health, ecosystems, and the natural world.

At the heart of my work is a commitment to health equity, collaboration, curiosity, compassion, and hope. I believe science has a responsibility to generate knowledge, build meaningful partnerships, elevate underrepresented voices, and help create solutions grounded in the needs and experiences of communities. Whether I am conducting research, teaching, advising policymakers, or building international collaborations, my goal is the same: to help create a future in which healthier brains contribute to healthier people, stronger communities, and a healthier planet.

Outside of work, you will usually find me running, hiking, taking photographs, or exploring nature with my husband, our three children, and our dog, Canela. I completed a six-month artist residency at the Ten Women Gallery in Santa Monica and continue to draw inspiration from both science and art. We now call the San Francisco Bay Area home, where many of my best ideas begin during long walks outdoors with my family.