Dr. Srini Pillay

Dr. Srini Pillay trained as a physician in South Africa, graduating at the top of his medical school class before earning a Medical Research Council fellowship in neurochemistry. He completed his psychiatry residency at McLean Hospital through Harvard Medical School, where he became the most awarded resident in the institution’s history. He later directed both the Outpatient Anxiety Disorders Program and the Panic Disorders Research Program in Brain Imaging at McLean, and spent 17 years conducting federally funded brain research while serving as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Over time, his work moved beyond diagnosing and treating illness toward a deeper question: how do belief, attention, meaning, and emotion shape biology itself? That inquiry led him to pioneer psychogenic longevity, the science of how mindset influences healthspan and lifespan. His perspective challenges one cause explanations of disease and instead examines the constant dialogue between brain, body, and environment.

Today, Srini is Chief Medical Officer and Co Founder of Reulay, an AI driven digital therapeutics company delivering science based mindset shifts to improve well being. He also co founded MindForm Sanctuaries, which integrates neuroscience informed digital art into physical spaces to support emotional and physiological health. His work spans medicine, technology, and leadership, advising biotech investors across cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative research while guiding global organizations in building resilient, creative teams.

A member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry and McKinsey’s Consortium for Learning Innovation, and voted among the Top 20 movers and shakers in leadership development worldwide, Srini brings scientific rigor into conversations about reinvention, performance, and human potential. He is the author of three books, including Tinker Dabble Doodle Try, and his work bridges neuroscience, spirituality, music, and creativity in ways that feel both disciplined and alive.

As a podcast guest, Srini offers grounded, provocative conversations about longevity, attention, self reinvention, and what it takes to remain fully human in an age shaped by AI.