Ed Ergenzinger J.D., Ph.D.

Ed Ergenzinger, J.D., Ph.D., is a neuroscientist, patent attorney, adjunct professor, and writer. He's also a mental health advocate and educator living with bipolar I disorder. Dr. Ergenzinger was diagnosed several years ago when a severe cycle of mania and depression left him unemployed, uninsured, filing for bankruptcy, and collecting Social Security Disability. With medicine and therapy, he’s been able to manage his bipolar disorder well enough to be able to practice law again and become a mental health advocate. He has practiced patent law for over 20 years, serving clients ranging from solo inventors and start-up companies to world-class research universities and some of the biggest pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the world. Dr. Ergenzinger has taught as part of undergraduate, graduate, medical, and law school curricula, including serving as an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University, Campbell University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been an invited speaker at institutions such as Wake Forest University, Duke University, Vanderbilt University, the University of California at San Francisco, Yale University, and Stanford University, and organizations such as the North Carolina Bar Association, the American Health Lawyers Association, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization. He is the lead author or co-author of over 100 publications, including pieces that have appeared in Nature Neuroscience, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, The Scientist, Legal Times, Stanford Technology Law Review, and various Medium publications. He obtained his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Wake Forest University, where he was a National Institutes of Mental Health Predoctoral Fellow and conducted research in the Departments of Neurosurgery, Neurobiology and Anatomy, and Physiology and Pharmacology. For more information about Dr. Ergenzinger’s mental health education, writing, and speaking, please see his website at www.edergenzinger.com.