Sam Wass

Sam studied Experimental Psychology at Oxford University, and did his PhD at the Centre for Brain Cognitive Development in London. After this he was awarded a British Academy Postodoctoral Fellowship, based at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at Cambridge. He is currently funded by an ESRC Future Research Leaders Fellowship, based at the University of East London.

Sam’s research use neuroimaging, heart rate recording, and behavioural testing to examine the different factors that cause and alleviate stress in children, why some children find it easier to concentrate than others do, and how these two things might be related. He works with typical children as well as children growing up in low socio-economic status backgrounds in East London. He is also a collaborator on projects in London, New York and Canada with clinical populations (children with Attention Deficit Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Rett Syndrome), funded by the Medical Research Council, NIHR and others.

In addition Sam is also very active in the public communication of science. He has been heavily involved in the development, and featured as an on-screen scientist, of the multi-award-winning Channel 4 series The Secret Life of 4-, 5- and 6-Year-Olds (2014-ongoing). This series has consistently reached audiences of up to 3 million viewers. He has fronted press campaigns both for charities (National Trust, Save The Children) and for commercial organisations (Tescos, Dulux, Ikea, Nikleodeon, the Cartoon Network). He has appeared on all TV networks (BBC, ITV, Sky), radio (BBC Radio 4/5, Sky) and all major national newspapers (Sun, Mirror, Daily Mail, Times, Telegraph, Independent, BBC News).