Matteo Farinella

Matteo Farinella is a neuroscientist and cartoonist who studies the use of comics and other visual narratives in science communication. Working with science journalists, educators, and cognitive neuroscientists, he aims to understand how these tools may affect the public perception of science and increase scientific literacy. He received a PhD in neuroscience from University College London in 2013. 

Matteo is the author of two graphic novels and a children's book: The Senses (Nobrow, 2017), Neurocomic (Nobrow, 2013), and Cervellopoli (Editoriale Scienza 2017). He has worked with universities and educational institutions around the world to make science more accessible. His illustrations won the NSF Science Visualization Challenge (2015), and have been featured in exhibitions such as the Society of Illustrators Comics and Cartoon Art Annual Exhibition (2015) and STEAM Within the Panels at the AAAS Art Gallery (2017).

Matteo concluded his tenure as a Presidential Scholar in 2019. He is now the scientific multimedia producer at Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute, where he makes the latest neuroscience research more accessible to the wider public, with illustrations, animations, and other visuals.

Please visit cartoonscience.org to find out more about Matteo's efforts to increase scientific literacy.

Project Title

Visual Narratives for Science Communication

Marguerite Holloway
Professor of Professional Practice, Co-Director of the MA Science Journalism Program, Provost's Senior Faculty Teaching Scholar, Columbia University

Barbara Tversky
Professor of Psychology and Education, Teachers College

Making the Brain Accessible with Comics
World Neurosurgery, 2020

Comparing Effectiveness and Engagement of Data Comics and Infographics
Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2019

Scientists Who Draw Comics: The Double Life of Visual Science Communicators
2019 Annual Meeting, AAAS, 2019

Das Gehirn 
Neuroforum, 2019

Of Microscopes and Metaphors: Visual Analogy as a Scientific Tool
The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship, 2018

The Potential of Comics in Science Communication
Journal of Science Communication2018

Design Patterns for Data Comics
Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2018

Science Comics' Super Powers
American Scientist, 2018

Cervellopoli
Editoriale Scienza, 2017

The Senses
Nobrow, 2017