E. Paul Zehr Ph.D., is a sensorimotor neuroscientist, an author, and a martial artist of Okinawan, Japanese, and Chinese traditions living in Victoria, British Columbia. He is passionate about the popularization of science using superheroes as foils for human achievement and ability. His books include Becoming Batman (2008), Inventing Iron Man (2011), Project Superhero (2014), and Chasing Captain America (2018).
At an early age, martial arts got him into science and he continues his daily practice in Victoria where he also teaches karate and Ryukyu kobujutsu. His work as head of the Rehabilitation Neuroscience Laboratory focused on the recovery of function after neurotrauma using integrated whole-body movement. This work contributed to changes in rehabilitation including the use of the arms to improve stepping of the legs after stroke.
Zehr has been a regular speaker at conferences and comic conventions including San-Diego International Comic Con and New York Comic Con and he has presented to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on the science of superheroes. In addition to articles and interviews on exercise, science, and superheroes in Flipside: The Science, Engineering, and Technology Magazine for Teenagers, Scientific American, Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maxim, Popular Mechanics, Discover, and Maclean’s magazines, Zehr also blogged at Scientific American.
He won the 2012 Craigdarroch Award for Research Communications at the University of Victoria and the 2015 Science Educator Award from the Society for Neuroscience. Project Superhero received the 2015 Silver Medal for Juvenile Fiction from the North American Independent Book Publishers. In 2019 his contributions to mentoring were acknowledged with the REACH Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Supervision & Mentorship from the University of Victoria.