Jo Marchant

Jo Marchant, PhD, is an award-winning science journalist, author and speaker. Her most recent book is the New York Times bestseller Cure: a journey into the science of mind over body. She has written extensively on the science of the mind-body connection and how we can use our minds to improve our health, using techniques from mindfulness and virtual reality to drug-free medicines. She is also fascinated by what science reveals about our past, with articles that explore ancient mysteries such as cave paintings, pyramids, hidden manuscripts and lost technology.

Jo trained as a scientist and has a PhD in genetics and medical microbiology from St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College in London, and an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College London. She previously worked as a senior editor at New Scientist and at Nature, and her articles have appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Guardian and Smithsonian magazine, and websites such as Mosaic and TheAtlantic.com.

Her radio and TV appearances include BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week and Today programmes, NPR’s Fresh Air, CNN and National Geographic. She has captivated live audiences around the world, including at the Royal Institution in London, the Hay Festival, the Edinburgh Science Festival, the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Dutch-Flemish Institute in Cairo.

Jo’s other books are Decoding the Heavens: Solving the mystery of the world’s first computer, shortlisted for the 2009 Royal Society Prize for Science Books, and The Shadow King: The bizarre afterlife of King Tut’s mummy, described by The Guardian as “luminous and illuminating”.