Feng Zhang

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. Zhang was born in China in 1981, where both his parents were computer programmers. At age 11, he moved to Iowa with his mother. He attended Theodore Roosevelt High School and Central Academy in Des Moines, graduating in 2000. As a high school student, Zhang participated in the Research Science Institute (RSI) summer program at MIT in 1999. He was a finalist at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in 1998 and 1999 and placed third in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search (STS) in 2000.