Dr. Arnold Kriegstein is currently director of the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program and a professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco. From 1981 to 2001 he was professor of neurology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, Yale University and Stanford University. He received his bachelor's degree in 1971 from Yale University, and his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from New York University.

He is known and highly respected in his community for his research in the area of neocortical development, neural differentiation and development. He has received several awards such as Stanford University William M. Hume Faculty Scholar and a Javitts Award from the NIH. He has also co-authored and reviewed numerous medical publications in neuroscience.