biology

Lisa Genova

Lisa Genova is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lisa Genova rather than just read about it. In short: Lisa Genova (born November 22, 1970) is an American neuroscientist and author. She self-published her debut novel, Still Alice (2007), about a Harvard University professor who suffers early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Key takeaways

Lisa Genova belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lisa Genova to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lisa Genova from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lisa Genova (born November 22, 1970) is an American neuroscientist and author. She self-published her debut novel, Still Alice (2007), about a Harvard University professor who suffers early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The book was adapted into a 2014 film with the same title, which won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Julianne Moore's performance as Alice Howland. Genova has written fiction about characters dealing with neurological disorders. Gallery Books published her next three novels, Left Neglected, Love Anthony, and Inside the O'Briens, all New York Times bestsellers.

Life and science career Genova graduated valedictorian, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Bates College with a Bachelor of Science degree in biopsychology, and in 1998 she received a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard University. She did research at Massachusetts General Hospital East, Yale Medical School, McLean Hospital, and the National Institutes of Health. Genova taught neuroanatomy at Harvard Medical School in fall 1996.

Literary and related career

Still Alice

Her first novel was Still Alice (2007), about a woman who suffers early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The central character, Alice Howland, is a 50-year-old cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned linguistics expert. She is married to an equally successful husband, with whom she has three grown children. The disease takes hold swiftly, and it changes Alice's relationship with her family and the world. Genova self-published the book in 2007 with iUniverse. The book was later acquired by Simon & Schuster and published in January 2009 by Pocket Books (now Gallery Books). It was on The New York Times best seller list for more than 59 weeks. As of 2012, there were more than a million copies in print, and it had been translated into 26 languages. The book was later adapted for the stage by Christine Mary Dunford for the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago. The play was produced from April 10 – May 19, 2013. Neon Park Productions and Killer Films produced a film adaptation of Still Alice in 2014, starring Julianne Moore as Alice, and co-starring Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, and Kate Bosworth. Moore won an Academy Award for Best Actress at the 87th Academy Awards for her role.

Left Neglected

Left Neglected (2011) tells the story of a woman who has left neglect (also called hemispatial or unilateral neglect), caused by a traumatic brain injury. As she struggles to recover, she learns that she must embrace a simpler life. She begins to heal when she attends to elements left neglected in herself, her family, and the world around her. It was a New York Times bestseller, the No. 1 Indie Next Pick for January 2011, the Borders "Book You’ll Love" for January 2011, and the No. 4 Indie Reading Group Pick for summer 2011. Left Neglected was chosen by the Richard & Judy Book Club in the UK.

Love Anthony

Love Anthony, her third New York Times bestseller, was published by Gallery Books in September 2012. The main character is Anthony, a nonverbal boy with autism. This story goes inside the mind of autism and how Anthony affects two women. It spent one week on the New York Times hardcover best-seller list.

Inside the O'Briens Inside the O'Briens was published by Gallery Books in April 2015. It focuses on members of the O'Brien family, several of whom have inherited Huntington's disease, and how the disease affects their lives and relationships. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for fiction in 2015. It was a No. 1 hardcover fiction title in Canada and a New York Times bestseller.

Every Note Played Every Note Played is Genova's fifth novel and was released in March 2018. It follows the main character, a pianist by trade, as he discovers and lives with a diagnosis of ALS.

More or Less Maddy More or Less Maddy is Genova's sixth novel and was released in January 2025. It follows the main character, a stand-up comedian, as she deals with her diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Non-fiction Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting, 2021; published by Penguin Random House. New York Times bestseller.

Audiobooks 2009: Still Alice (Audible, read by Lisa Genova) 2015: Inside the O'Briens (Audible read by Skipp Suddwith) 2018: Every Note Played (Audible, afterword read by Lisa Genova) 2021: Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting (Audible, read by Lisa Genova )

Awards and honors On April 23, 2015, it was announced that Genova would receive the third annual Pell Center Prize for Story in the Public Square, an award "recognizing a contemporary storyteller whose work has had a significant impact on the public dialogue". The award is bestowed by the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University. Genova was also awarded with the Sargent and Eunice Shriver Profiles in Dignity Award, which recognizes individuals whose actions have promoted greater understanding of Alzheimer's and its effects on diagnosed individuals, families and caregivers. She received the Abe Burrows Entertainment Award for the film Still Alice, Global Genes - Fourth Annual RARE Champions of Hope Award, Bates College Sesquicentennial Award and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Media Award for Informing the Public about Treatment and Ongoing Research in Medical Illness. The Alzheimer's Association awarded Genova the Rita Hayworth Award on May 7, 2016. Genova was awarded an honorary degree from Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine, on May 29, 2016.

Personal life Genova was married and had a daughter in 2000. She started writing full-time in 2004, following her divorce.

References

External links Official website Lisa Genova at IMDb Simon & Schuster Author Page Lisa Genova interviewed on Conversations from Penn State Lisa Genova's Official Wattpad Profile Appearances on C-SPAN

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lisa Genova

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lisa Genova claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lisa Genova before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lisa Genova ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lisa Genova

In research: Lisa Genova appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lisa Genova in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lisa Genova is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1970 births, 21st-century American novelists, 21st-century American women novelists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lisa Genova outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lisa Genova in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lisa Genova means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lisa Genova out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lisa Genova in simple terms?

Why does Lisa Genova matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lisa Genova?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lisa Genova.