Tara Thiagarajan

Tara Thiagarajan is the founder and Chief Scientist of Sapien Labs, which has developed the MHQ and the Mental Health Million and Human Brain Diversity Projects.

Background
Thiagarajan leads scientific research work focused on the impact of environment on the brain and mind. This research has shown that aspects of brain dynamics change systematically with the stimulus environment including education, travel and cell phone use and has described the global decline in mental wellbeing across younger generations and uncovered various of its key drivers.

She was also the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Madura Microfinance, a microfinance company operating across India which was known for its high cost efficiency and innovative thought leadership. Madura Microfinance was recently merged with Credit Access Grameen. While at Madura Microfinance she produced the film Shakti Rising (Shakti Pirakkudu) on the journey of a rural woman. In 2022, she joined the Governing Council of Krea University in India

Early life and education
She holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Stanford University and also completed her undergraduate degree in Mathematics at Brandeis University.