Bellagio Residents/

Sam Wang

NeuroscientistApril 2006 Cohort

Bellagio Residency: April 2006 

Project: a manuscript, “Bridging the Gap between Brain Folklore and Modern Neuroscience”


Sam Wang is a scientist who has spent his career making complex data accessible to the public on a wide range of topics including the neuroscience, statistics, and politics. His neuroscience research focuses on how the brain learns from sensory experience in adulthood  and development. During his residency at Bellagio, his project aimed to demystify the human brain by debunking common myths and exploring critical issues such as autism, aging, and gender differences. The project led to an award-winning book, Welcome To Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys But Never Forget How To Drive, designed to engage a popular audience with cutting-edge neuroscience. Wang is a Professor of Neuroscience at Princeton University, where his research and public communication efforts have earned him widespread recognition, including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship. He is also a leader in the application of data science to understanding the dysfunctions of U.S. democracy. He is the founder and director of the Electoral Innovation Lab, whose mission is to build a practical science of democracy repair.

Featured Talk: TED Salon

Sam Wang is a computational modeler and professor of neuroscience at Princeton University who uses his skills to identify ways to repair democracy and level the electoral playing field for voters. In 2004, he pioneered the statistical aggregation of presidential polls to reduce noise in media coverage. In 2015, he founded the Princeton Gerrymandering Project to identify and combat gerrymandering, an offense that enables politicians to guarantee their careers by handpicking their voters. He is the founding director of the Electoral Innovation Lab, which uses big data and cognitive science to pinpoint how to help voters maximize their influence over the government they elect.