Uta Frith was born in 1941 in Rockenhausen, Germany and has lived in London since 1966, when she married Christopher Frith. They have two sons, Martin born 1975, and Alex, born 1978.

She studied experimental psychology at the Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken and subsequently trained in clinical psychology at the University of London's Institute of Psychiatry. Since completing her PhD on autism in 1968, she has worked as a scientist funded by the Medical Research Council. She is now Professor in Cognitive Development at the University of London and Deputy director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.

Uta Frith's main focus of research are the developmental disorders of autism and dyslexia. Her aim is to discover the underlying cognitive causes of these disorders and to link them to behaviour patterns as well as to brain systems. Another aim is to make this research relevant to the education of people with developmental disorders to contribute to a better quality of their everyday life.

She collaborates with her husband, who is also a neuroscientist, using brain imaging techniques to investigate underlying processes in social cognition and their failure in autism. More recently, Uta Frith has been interested in the impact of neuroscience on education. She has published a number of books and numerous articles in scientific journals. Details of her publications and her research can be seen on the UCL – ICN website.

Uta Frith has received Honorary degrees from the University of Gothenburg, the University of St. Andrews, the University of Palermo, and the University of York. She is a Fellow of the British Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the British Academy. In 2005 she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, being one of two women out of 44 new fellows. She is keen to promote women in science.