Damien Fair, PA-C, PhD
Multi-PI, Deputy Director
Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience
2025 E. River Parkway 7962A
Minneapolis, MN 55414
United States
As CTSI’s Deputy Director, Dr. Damien Fair works closely with CTSI’s executive leadership team to oversee the institute’s operations and achieve excellence in clinical research. Through this role, he also has oversight of CTSI’s community engagement (CEARCH) and child health functions, CTSI’s DEI Catalytic Collaborative, and the Rural Health Program, a collaborative program of CTSI and the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs (OACA).
Dr. Fair is a Professor with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School and the Institute of Child Development at the College of Education and Human Development. He also co-directs the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB), a new collaboration at the University of Minnesota between the Medical School and the College of Education and Human Development. It has seen several areas of success in uniting UMN expertise and community to accelerate scientific excellence into clinical care, education, and policy.
Dr. Fair’s research focuses on mechanisms and principles that underlie the developing brain. Combining technical advances in functional MRI, advanced mathematics, and expertise in psychology and neuroscience, Dr. Fair has been able to demonstrate several basic principles of brain development and its relationships to typical and atypical behaviors. His work cuts across both human and animal models using these non-invasive tools as a bridge between species. He aims to advance the intersection of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and medicine while widening the reach of those who are trained and touched by the efforts.
Dr. Fair received his MMSc degree from the Yale University School of Medicine Physician Associate Program, and practiced in the Neurology department at Yale New Haven Hospital. Following, he received his PhD in Neuroscience from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and did his postdoctoral work at Oregon Health and Science University. He joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 2020 to co-direct the MIDB.