Feng Zhang

Feng Zhang
Feng Zhang
Simplified Chinese	张锋
Traditional Chinese	張鋒
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Zhāng Fēng
IPA	[ʈʂáŋ fə́ŋ]

Feng Zhang
Feng Zhang
张锋
	Zhang in 2017
Born	October 22, 1981; Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China
Education	Harvard University (BA); Stanford University (PhD);
Known for	Optogenetics, CRISPR
Awards	National Inventors Hall of Fame (2026); National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2025); Edward Novitski Prize (2021); Harvey Prize (2018); Keio Medical Science Prize (2018); National Academy of Sciences (2018); American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2018); Lemelson-MIT Prize (2017); Albany Medical Center Prize (2017); Gairdner Foundation International Award (2016); Tang Prize (2016); Tsuneko & Reiji Okazaki Award (2015); Alan T. Waterman Award (2014); Gabbay Award (2014); NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (2012); Perl-UNC Prize (2011);
	Scientific career
Fields	Neuroscience; Bioengineering
Institutions	Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Broad Institute; McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Thesis	Circuit-breakers: optical technologies for probing neural signals and systems (2009)
Doctoral advisor	Karl Deisseroth
Other academic advisors	Xiaowei Zhuang, Paola Arlotta, George Church
Doctoral students	Silvana Konermann, Patrick Hsu
Website	zlab.mit.edu

Feng Zhang (Chinese: 张锋; pinyin: Zhāng Fēng; born October 22, 1981) is a Chinese-born American biochemist and neuroscientist. He is the James and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a core institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He also holds appointments as an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, as a professor in the MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Biological Engineering, and as an HHMI investigator. Zhang is most well known for his central role in the development of optogenetics and CRISPR technologies. In 2025, he was awarded National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor the United States confers for achievements related to technological progress.