Podcast with Prof. Marcus W. Feldman, PhD, Biology Department, Stanford University, Interview by Gail S. Thornton, PhDc

UPDATED on 3/17/2020

Interview with Professor Marcus Feldman, Stanford University by Gail S. Thornton

Welcome to our podcast series exploring cutting-edge science and medical topics, sponsored by the Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence.

Today’s guest is Professor Marcus Feldman, who is the Burnet C. and Mildred Finley Wohlford Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University and co-director of Stanford Bio-X, the Stanford Cancer Institute, the Stanford Neurosciences Institute and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

He uses applied mathematics and computer modeling to simulate and analyze the process of evolution. His specific areas of research include the evolution of complex genetic systems that can undergo both natural selection and recombination, and the evolution of learning as one interface between modern methods in artificial intelligence and models of biological processes, including communication.

Most notably, he helped develop the quantitative theory of cultural evolution, which he applies to issues in human behavior, and also the theory of niche construction, which has wide applications in ecology and evolutionary analysis. He also has a large research program on demographic issues related to the gender ratio in China.

He is managing editor of Theoretical Population Biology and associate editor of the journals Genetics; Human Genomics; Complexity; the Annals of Human Genetics; and the Annals of Human Biology. He is a former editor of The American Naturalist. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the California Academy of Science. His work received the “Paper of the Year 2003” award in all of biomedical science from The Lancet. He has written more than 600 scientific papers and 10 books on evolution, ecology, and mathematical biology.

Enjoy the podcast!