Psychogenic Longevity and Leadership Development Expert, Author, Psychiatrist, Coach, Brain Researcher, Musician, Provocateur/Poet
Dr. Srini Pillay is Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of Reulay, an AI-driven digital therapeutics company that enhances well-being and extends healthspan by shifting mindset to reduce the risk of chronic disease A Harvard-trained psychiatrist, brain researcher, and biotechnology consultant, Dr. Pillay is widely recognized for his groundbreaking work in psychogenic longevity—the science of using mindset to improve healthspan and lifespan. He is also co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of MindForm Sanctuaries, a company that integrates science-based digital art into hotel and residential spaces to promote emotional and physical well-being.
Dr. Pillay is known for his ability to unite science, spirituality, and horns-grabbing joie de vivre in ways that help ambitious, high-performing individuals navigate the stresses of success. He is a world-renowned keynote speaker, lecturer, consultant, and author who combines “head and heart” (figuratively and literally) to guide personal growth, leadership development, and well-being. His practical tools, rooted in neuroscience and lived experience, are trusted by global organizations and visionary individuals seeking transformation.
After graduating as the top medical student in South Africa, Dr. Pillay received a prestigious Medical Research Council Scholarship to study the neurochemistry of panic. He went on to complete his psychiatry residency at Harvard’s McLean Hospital, where he became the most awarded resident in the institution’s history. He also completed fellowships in psychopharmacology, structural brain imaging, and functional brain imaging, and spent 17 years conducting brain research at Harvard while directing both the Outpatient Anxiety Disorders Program and the Panic Disorders Research Program at McLean Hospital.
Dr. Pillay served as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and currently maintains a private clinical practice. He is a member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP), a prestigious think tank shaping psychiatric thought and public health programs in the U.S., where he contributes to the “Disasters and the World” committee and has co-authored chapters in Disaster Psychiatry. He also serves as a Longevity Science & Innovation Council Advisor for AB Chopra Epigenetics, a collaboration between Deepak Chopra and Augustinus Bader that merges regenerative skincare with epigenetic science to support vitality and lifespan extension.
He is also on a task force to help transform the Bronx into a certified Blue Zone, bringing lifestyle-based longevity solutions to underserved communities. Dr. Pillay is developing a chatbot called Tiarra with Dr. Uma Naidoo. Tiarra is dedicated to improving mental health support for women He is also a co-founder of Vitality Nexus, a personalized well-being and longevity initiative hosted at Amrit Ocean Resort in Palm Beach, where he also leads immersive retreats and programs focused on psychogenic healthspan optimization.
In addition to his medical and academic accomplishments, Dr. Pillay is a trusted advisor to biotech investment firms across domains including cancer, heart disease, stroke, and neurodegenerative research. He is also the founder and CEO of NeuroBusiness Group®, named one of the Top 20 leadership development companies worldwide by Training Industry, and he has taught in executive education programs at Harvard Business School, Duke Corporate Education, and Mobius Executive Leadership. His clients include the United Nations, World Bank, Coca-Cola, Verizon, Lockheed Martin, Blue Shield of California, and many of the world’s largest consulting and financial services firms.
Dr. Pillay is the author of three critically acclaimed books—Life Unlocked: 7 Revolutionary Lessons to Overcome Fear, Your Brain and Business: The Neuroscience of Great Leaders, and Tinker Dabble Doodle Try: Unlock the Power of the Unfocused Mind—translated into eight languages. Life Unlocked received the prestigious “Books for a Better Life” award, whose past recipients include Brené Brown and Jill Bolte Taylor. He has delivered a TEDx talk titled “Wired for Success: The Science of Possibility,” spoken in over a dozen countries, and appears frequently in global media including CNN, NPR, Fox News, The New York Times, Forbes, and Harvard Business Review.
A certified master executive coach, Dr. Pillay blends deep insight, rigorous science, and artistic creativity into everything he does. His recent work includes writing a musical and launching new initiatives that combine neuroscience with music for corporate development. He is a member of the Transformational Leadership Council and McKinsey’s Consortium for Learning Innovation. As a contributor to Biohack Yourself, he also shares cutting-edge, science-based insights on psychogenic longevity with the general public. Dr. Pillay is a true polymath—an accomplished musician, award-winning poet, gourmand, and digital artist—committed to advancing human flourishing across mind, body, and spirit.
A wonderful job translating neuroscience into layman’s terms, vividly explaining how the human mind works. Can help anyone understand their fears and how to overcome them.
My go-to expert on fear, grief, and anxiety. Top-of-his-class credentials. A ‘movie-star’ personality who brings a creative spark to every topic.
Effective for leaders with a technical background who prefer having scientific evidence to support decisions they make, rather than anecdotal evidence.
I found great value in Dr. Pillay’s easy to understand audio materials and benefited from the personalized feedback he provided during a webinar. I sense more calm and concentration in my work habits. I look forward to more progress in my partnership with my brain to tap my personal potential.
Srini’s undisputable love of brain science is obvious. He presents large amounts of complex information in a refreshingly honest and engaging manner. He is one of the most authentic and approachable individuals I’ve ever encountered. Srini’s zest for life and sense of humor are a pleasure to behold. His sense of integrity to others and to his work creates a strong, trusting environment. The richness of information that Srini provides is fascinating to learn, as it is exciting in its application.
Becoming Who You Need to Be for the World That’s Coming
In a time of exponential change, most people are trying to do things differently—without realizing that true transformation requires becoming someone new. Dr. Srini Pillay explains how self-related circuits in the brain can be rewired to upgrade not only your mind, but also your body—from muscles and bones to the connective tissues that link physical and mental performance.
This is not an ordinary era. As AI accelerates, the brain risks being overwhelmed if we try to sleepwalk into the future. To thrive, we must go beyond adapting—we must become leaders. As Warren Bennis once said, “Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself,” and that’s the deeper invitation of this next century.
In this energizing keynote, Dr. Pillay shares how to reshape the brain’s predictive systems, awaken your inner “crystal ball,” and unlock human potential by both becoming—and transcending—the self. He explores how mind-body practices, deeply rooted in neuroscience, can ignite spirit, sharpen intuition, and bring excitement back into the journey of becoming. Your audience will leave not only inspired, but fundamentally reimagining who they are and what they’re capable of.
Unlocking the Brain’s Role in Lifespan, Vitality, and Purpose
What if your mindset could shape how long—and how well—you live? Research shows that optimistic people live 11–15% longer, and studies like the famous Nun Study reveal that a sense of control over life can dramatically extend longevity.
In this captivating keynote, Dr. Srini Pillay reveals the cutting-edge neuroscience behind psychogenic longevity—how your brain influences your biology, healthspan, and aging process. With humor, heart, and clarity, he delivers memorable stories and actionable strategies that audiences can immediately apply to enhance their well-being.
Dr. Pillay dispels the myth of a one-size-fits-all approach to aging, breaking down the science behind personalized lifestyle interventions that promote long life. He also shares his groundbreaking work on the Blue Zones project in the Bronx and explains how integrating mind-body principles can elevate human health, potential, and quality of life.
“Just Do It,” simply won’t work post pandemic with stress levels at epidemic proportions. Today, delivering an organizational goal requires new methods with proven psychological heft and departure from the status quo. Stress and mental roadblocks undermine initiatives because they’re typically fiercer and more persistent than tangible ones. Leaders and teams can have vastly different beliefs about what’s possible to achieve.
How then, do leaders inspire teams to…
Exceed sales quotas?
Create a “never been done before,” product
Implement a strategic initiative … in spite of elevated stress, varying beliefs and mental roadblocks?
Imagine if … there was a way to boost a sense of what’s possible, and a way to transform mental roadblocks to achieve any goal … no matter what. The shift in focus, time and energy goes from obstacles to the objective. Imagine if… there was a neuroscience toolkit that leaders and teams could apply to increase a goal’s viability and success?
There is. It’s called Possibility Thinking, because research validates, for every initiative, mindset matters. Possibility thinking primes the mindset ahead of a goal using easy to learn and apply brain-based techniques. The Science of Possibility session, guides leaders to discover their sense of what’s possible, and what’s blocking it. There are several, but a significant factor that obstructs possibility thinking is prolonged stress, there’s no optimum performance in this state and it has serious physical health consequences.
This session gives leaders the practical tools to transform stress and underlying mental blockages. The return exceeds the investment with a measurable improvement in possibility thinking that nets tangible results. Instead of just envisioning an immediate goal or the distant future …. leaders now have the neuroscience understanding, skills and the tools … to build it.
“Grin and bear it,” isn’t an effective or sustainable resilience building strategy. Yet leaders face new challenges, sometimes with outmoded tools.
This Building Resilience program turns the topic upside down.
It changes the conversation.
To transform daunting challenges and build resilience that sticks, understanding the foundational complexities of the brain is a must. Otherwise it’s a contest between evolutionary factors that thwart every attempt at building resilience.
“Bad is stronger than good,” is one such factor. This famous piece of research, tells us, that our evolutionary hardwiring is to focus more attention on bad things which are easily retrievable in our memory.
But when we’re wired to focus on bad things, is building resilience even possible? Yes, it is.
You don’t need to be held hostage to evolution. The truth is, the brain can change, when you know how. In Building Resilience, this program introduces daring new approaches outside of the ordinary paradigms. It focuses on the neuroscience of resilience.
With supporting research and brain-based techniques, each participant learns the steps necessary to change the brain. It outlines the neurological conditions that promote clear thinking, a sense of calm amidst the storm, mindset necessary in astute decision making and a critical component of resilience. Leaders gain new perspectives on the brain and specific ways to leverage its power to apply to challenges within the organization for visible outcomes.
This neuroscience approach to resilience puts the practical tools into the hands of each leader. It gives them concrete new methods to face new challenges in the post pandemic era, during times of uncertainty and transition. No leader or team member should ever have to, “Grin and bear it,” … when they can possess the resilience to thrive.t.
Get ongoing guidance and support from world-renowned psychiatrist and brain researcher Dr. Srini Pillay to not just survive but thrive in complicated times.
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