At i-BRAIN – the Institute for Brain Research, Advanced Interfaces and Neurotechnologies – we explore highly-interdisciplinary research at the frontiers of science, engineering and medicine to develop transformative brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that blur the distinction between electronics and the brain. Researchers at i-BRAIN seek carryout groundbreaking research to understand the brain and brain diseases as well as to develop breakthrough technologies for the treatment of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. The goal of the research is to enable translation in the near-term but also create future advances that today may be considered the realm of science fiction.

Undergraduate B.A. in Chemistry, Franklin and Marshall College, 1981

Graduate Ph.D. in Chemistry, Stanford University, 1985

Postgraduate Postdoctoral Research, California Institute of Technology, 1985-1987

1987-1990 Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Columbia University

1990-1991 Associate Professor of Chemistry, Columbia University

1991-1999 Professor of Chemistry, Harvard University

1999-2017 Mark Hyman Professor of Chemistry, Harvard University

2015-2020 Chair, Department of Chemistry, Harvard University

2017-2023 Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor, Harvard University

2/2023 Retired from Harvard

5/2025- Present Chair Professor, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (Tsinghua SIGS) 

5/2025- Present SMART Investigator, Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation

5/2025-Present Director, i-BRAIN, Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation

Welch Award in Chemistry (2019); John Gamble Kirkwood Award, Yale University (2018); NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (2017 and 2008); MRS Von Hippel Award (2016); Remsen Award (2016); Nano Research Award, Tsinghua University Press/Springer (2013); IEEE Nanotechnology Pioneer Award (2013); Willard Gibbs Medal (2013); Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2012); Fred Kavli Distinguished Lectureship in Nanoscience (2010); Inorganic Nanoscience Award of the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry (2009); Einstein Award, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2008); NBIC Research Excellence Award, University of Pennsylvania (2007); Nanotech Briefs Nano 50 Award (2005); ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials (2004); World Technology Award in Materials (2004 and 2003); Scientific American 50 Award in Nanotechnology and Molecular Electronics (2003); New York Intellectual Property Law Association Inventor of the Year (2003); APS McGroddy Prize for New Materials (2003); Harrison Howe Award, University of Rochester (2002); MRS Medal (2002); Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (2001); NSF Creativity Award (1996); and ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (1992).

Elected Member, National Academy of Medicine (2017); Elected Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Science (2015); Elected Member, National Academy of Inventors (2013); Fellow, American Chemical Society, Inaugural Class (2009); Honorary Fellow, Chinese Chemical Society (2009); Elected Fellow, Materials Research Society (2008); Elected Fellow, Institute of Physics (2004); Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences (2004); Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002); Elected Fellow, World Technology Network (2002); Elected Fellow, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (2000); Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1996); Elected Fellow, American Physical Society (1996).

•  T.-M. Fu, G. Hong, T. Zhou, T. Schuhmann, R. Viveros and C.M. Lieber, “Stable long-term chronic brain mapping at the single neuron level,” Nat. Methods 13, 875-882 (2016).

•  T. Zhou, G. Hong, T.-M. Fu, X. Yang, T.G. Schuhmann, R.D. Viveros and C.M. Lieber, “Syringe-injectable mesh electronics integrate seamlessly with minimal chronic immune response in the brain,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 114, 5894-5899 (2017).

•  X. Dai, G. Hong, T. Gao and C.M. Lieber, “Mesh nanoelectronics: seamless integration of electronics with tissues,” Acc. Chem. Res. 51, 309-318 (2018).

•  G. Hong, T.-M. Fu, M. Qian, R.D. Viveros, X. Yang, T. Zhou, J.M. Lee, H.-G. Park, J.R. Sanes and C.M. Lieber, “A method for single-neuron chronic recording from the retina in awake mice,” Science 360, 1447-1451 (2018).

•  Yang, T. Zhou, T.J. Zwang, G. Hong, Y. Zhao, R.D. Viveros, T.-M. Fu, T. Gao and C.M. Lieber, “Bioinspired neuron-like electronics,” Nat. Mater.18, 510-517 (2019).

•  G. Hong and C.M. Lieber, “Novel electrode technologies for neural recordings,” Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 20, 330-345 (2019)

• J.M. Lee, G. Hong, D. Lin, T.G. Schuhmann, A.T. Sullivan, R.D. Viveros, H.-G. Park and C.M. Lieber, “Nano-enabled direct contact interfacing of syringe-injectable mesh electronics,” Nano Lett. 19, 5818-5826 (2019).

•  S.R. Patel and C.M. Lieber, “Precision electronic medicine in the brain,” Nat. Biotechnol. 37, 1007-1012 (2019).

•  J.M. Lee, D. Lin, Y.-W. Pyo, H.-R. Kim, H.-G. Park and C.M. Lieber, “Stitching flexible electronics into the brain,” Adv. Sci., 10, 2300220 (2023).

•  A. Zhang, T.J. Zwang and C.M. Lieber, “Biochemically-functionalized probes for cell type specific targeting and recording in the brain”, Sci. Adv. 9, eadk1050 (2023).

•  X. Yang, Y. Qi, C. Wang, T.J. Zwang, N.J. Rommelfanger, G. Hong and C.M. Lieber, “Laminin-coated electronic scaffolds with vascular topography for tracking and promoting the migration of brain cells after injury”, Nat. Biomed. Eng., 7, 1282-1292 (2023).