World Science Festival Participants

Astronaut Clayton Anderson (“Astro Clay”) applied 15 times before NASA selected him as an astronaut in 1998; he spent 30 years working for NASA as an engineer and astronaut.

Neuroscientist Nancy C. Andreasen is well known for her pioneering work using MRI imaging to explore mental illness and the neural bases for artistic creativity and innovation. She is the author of several books including The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius.

Timo Andres is a composer and pianist who studied at Yale University. A Nonesuch Records artist, his album, Home Stretch, has been hailed by The Guardian for its “playful intelligence and individuality.” Notable works include Strong Language, a string quartet for the Takacs Quartet, and The Blind Banister, a piano concerto for Jonathan Biss and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, which was a 2016 Pulitzer Prize Finalist.

Natalie Angier is a Pulitzer-prize winning science columnist for The New York Times and the author of Woman: An Intimate Geography—a finalist for the National Book Award—and The Canon: A Whirligig Tour through the Beautiful Basics of Science, among other books. She has also written for Smithsonian, The Atlantic, National Geographic, The American Scholar, Wired, Geo, Slate, and many other publications.

Misha Angrist is a 43-year-old male who is near-sighted and has a family history of heart disease. He has 23 pairs of chromosomes, a wife, and two children.

George Annas is the author or editor of seventeen books on health law and bioethics and is cofounder of Global Lawyers and Physicians, an organization that promotes human rights and health. He is the Edward R. Utley Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights of Boston University School of Public Health.