Dr Julian Asher attended university and medical school in the United States before obtaining his PhD in Clinical Medicine (Psychiatry) on a joint project focusing on the genetics of synaesthesia at the Universities of Cambridge (Professor Simon Baron-Cohen) and Oxford (Professor Anthony P. Monaco). While currently based in the Department of the Genetics of Common Diseases at Imperial College London, he continues to collaborate with the Synaesthesia Research Group in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, where further work on the genetics of synaesthesia is ongoing.

In addition to his scientific publications and presentations at international conferences, Dr Asher’s work has featured extensively in both print (Newsweek, The New Scientist, Scientific American Mind, Discover) and broadcast (BBC, CNN, Discovery Channel) media. He is a founding board member of the UK Synaesthesia Association.