Kieran undertook his undergraduate training at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, with majors in physics and chemistry. He subsequently completed his honours and PhD degrees in psychology at the University of Adelaide, Australia. Kieran has published in such diverse areas as communication of risk and probability, consumer behaviour, public engagement and deliberative democracy, and media representations of asylum seekers. His current research program focuses primarily on the social and ethical implications of emerging biotechnologies and the use of public deliberation to help inform policy. Specific areas of focus include human tissue biobanks, the Human Microbiome Project, and salmon genomics.