Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Now entering its fourteenth year, “What Matters to Me and Why,” the annual series of informal discussions with respected members of our campus community, has enjoyed remarkable success.
In this talk, Prof. Siryaporn tell us about neurodiversity and why it matters to him. During his training as a scientist, Prof. Siryaporn recognized the importance of diverse experiences and unique conceptualizations. In particular, that there is a wide spectrum of how people understand the world, a concept known as neurodiversity, and how important this is. One of his initiatives at UCI has been to address the unmet academic needs of neurodivergent individuals and build a supportive neurodiverse community. With support from the Physical Sciences Inclusive Excellence Award, Dr. Siryaporn started the UCI Neurodiversity Support Group in 2022. The group has since organized town halls, neurodiversity discussion panels, advocated for a disability cultural center, and provided academic mentorship. In collaboration with the UCI Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation, the group recently developed a faculty resource for improving learning outcomes for neurodivergent students.
Albert Siryaporn is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry. He received his Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania and was a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, where he investigated how bacteria interpret and respond to mechanical stimuli. He established his lab at UCI in 2016 to investigate the physics of life using bacteria, bacterial viruses, and mammalian systems. His approach draws from multiple disciplines including biological physics, microbiology, and systems biology.
Now entering its fourteenth year, “What Matters to Me and Why,” the annual series of informal discussions with respected members of our campus community, has enjoyed remarkable success.
In this talk, Prof. Siryaporn tell us about neurodiversity and why it matters to him. During his training as a scientist, Prof. Siryaporn recognized the importance of diverse experiences and unique conceptualizations. In particular, that there is a wide spectrum of how people understand the world, a concept known as neurodiversity, and how important this is. One of his initiatives at UCI has been to address the unmet academic needs of neurodivergent individuals and build a supportive neurodiverse community. With support from the Physical Sciences Inclusive Excellence Award, Dr. Siryaporn started the UCI Neurodiversity Support Group in 2022. The group has since organized town halls, neurodiversity discussion panels, advocated for a disability cultural center, and provided academic mentorship. In collaboration with the UCI Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation, the group recently developed a faculty resource for improving learning outcomes for neurodivergent students.
Albert Siryaporn is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry. He received his Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania and was a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, where he investigated how bacteria interpret and respond to mechanical stimuli. He established his lab at UCI in 2016 to investigate the physics of life using bacteria, bacterial viruses, and mammalian systems. His approach draws from multiple disciplines including biological physics, microbiology, and systems biology.
