Andrew Ivan Brown

Andrew Ivan Brown is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society within the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh's College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. He currently works on the ARIA-funded project 'Neurology Navigates Neurotech (3N): Understanding the Experiences and Expectations of Neurology Clinicians in relation to the Promise of Precision Neurotechnology,' led by Martyn Pickersgill.

Dr. Brown holds a PhD, MA, and BA(Hons), with interdisciplinary expertise spanning neuroethics, disability studies, and science and technology studies. His previous position was as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he conducted 32 interviews with neurotech researchers, clinicians, and participants.

His research focuses on the ethics of implantable neurotechnology including brain-computer interfaces like Neuralink and deep brain stimulation, while also developing affirmative perspectives on ADHD beyond conventional neurodiversity frameworks. His work critically engages with critical disability studies, Marxist thought, biopolitics, and social and political theory to examine how neurological conditions are understood and managed within biomedical and social contexts.

Brown's recent publications reveal a consistent focus on how neurotechnology is reshaping patient experiences, research participation frameworks, and cultural understandings of neurological conditions. His work bridges technical aspects of neurotechnology with their social implications, particularly examining how research participants are framed as 'pioneers' and how this rhetoric shapes expectations and experiences in emerging neurotech fields.

As an active academic, Brown has participated in labor activism, speaking at UAW rallies during the postdoc and research scientist strike at the University of Washington in 2023. His teaching includes Interdisciplinary Approaches to Neuroethics, reflecting his commitment to integrating ethical considerations with technical developments in neuroscience.