Robin Mazumder

Having taught university courses on human development, working as a mental health therapist across the lifespan, and conducting cutting-edge neuroscience research on how our world shapes our brains, Dr. Mazumder has a few thoughts on how centring brain health can help transform our society. He will discuss how modern urban life, from social isolation to urban design, impacts child brain development, what that means for mental and physical illnesses developing later in life, and the implications on how our society functions. His talk will inspire hope that we can leave a better world for future generations.

Over the course of his unconventional professional journey, Dr. Mazumder has been recognized for his leadership with numerous awards, including the University of Waterloo’s President’s Community Leadership Award, Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40, and the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Canada’s most prestigious doctoral award distinguished by its emphasis in leadership in both academia and community. Robin will detail his journey, which started with creating a program for children with disabilities in Northern Siberia, leading him to a career as a mental health therapist, following which he ran a start-up accelerator. Then, on to his PhD in neuroscience, where he focused on the psychological impacts of urban design, all paths inspired by his desire to make a difference in the communities he lived in and the global community we are all a part of.

Dr. Robin Mazumder is an environmental neuroscientist with a keen interest in the psychology of cities. Funded by the Vanier Canada scholarship, he completed his PhD in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Waterloo, where he used wearable technology and virtual reality to understand how urban environments affect the brain. This interest was inspired by his clinical experience as an occupational therapist. Working on the frontline with patients to transition from the hospital to the community stirred curiosity into how different settings, from quiet parks to busy roads, impacted their unique sensory experiences, and whether urban stress contributed to their illness. In this keynote, Robin will discuss the science of neurodivergence through the lens of cities, and will provide clear evidence and recommendations on how to design for difference. He will also explore the consequences of unhealthy urban design and how cities negatively impact the brain, providing reflections from his own lived experience of neurodivergence as someone who lives with Bipolar Disorder. Through story-telling and science communication, Robin will provide attendees with practical tools for neurodivergent urban design, and inspiration to continue their critical work in healthy, equitable city building.