Speaker Profile
PIONEER IN HUMAN BRAIN CIRCUIT MAPPING
TO ADVANCE PRECISION NEUROPATHOLOGY
M.D., Associate Professor in Residence of Neurological Surgery and Physiology, University of California, San Francisco; Co-Director, Center for Neural Engineering at University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco
Biography
There is little that is more personalized and unique to an individual than their speech and use of language. Dr. Chang specializes in developing advanced neurophysiologic brain mapping methods of both speech and motor circuits in order to safely perform neurosurgical procedures in these areas of the brain while preserving language and motor function. As a neurosurgeon scientist, Chang’s revolutionary research also leads to the development of state-of-the-art biomedical devices to restore function for patients with neurological disabilities. His approaches reveal new information about fundamental pathophysiological processes underlying neurological disease from which both patients and basic scientists benefit. Chang’s collaborations with physicists, wireless engineers, materials scientists and computer scientists, have enabled the ability to examine both local circuitry and global network dynamics spanning multiple brain regions with unparalleled spatial and temporal resolution in humans. A current goal is to uncover emergent properties underlying complex behaviors and functions, such as epileptic seizures, speech deficiencies, PTSD, and depression in order to refine them through precision medicine and then permanently reverse them in patients. Dr. Chang is a New York Stem Cell Foundation Robertson Investigator and a recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, Klingenstein Fellowship, Grass Foundation Young Investigator Award from the American Epilepsy Society, as well as scores of other honors. He earned his degrees at UCSF and UC Berkeley.
