John Spiro, PhD

Dr. John Spiro is the Senior Vice President and Senior Scientist at the Simons Foundation, where he works with the Executive Director to oversee all aspects of the Foundation’s autism research initiative. He also helped launch the Simons Variation in Individuals Project (now Simons Searchlight) and has spearheaded the Foundation’s efforts to promote the use of preprints in the life sciences as well as other initiatives aimed at more open data sharing.

Prior to the Simons Foundation, Dr. Spiro was with the Nature Publishing Group as an editor at Nature Neuroscience, where he was involved in evaluating research findings across the field of neuroscience. He later became a senior editor on the biology team at Nature, where he oversaw a group of editors responsible for editorial decisions and peer review of manuscripts across all areas of neuroscience, ranging from molecular development to functional imaging and behavior.

Dr. Spiro earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Haverford College and his doctorate from the University of California, San Diego. He did postdoctoral work at Duke University. His research interests were in cellular and systems neuroscience, and he focused on preparations where it was possible to forge links between cellular neurobiology and behavior.