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Feng Zhang

MIT Professor of Biomedical Engineering in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering

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Feng Zhang Biography

Feng Zhang (born 1982) is the W. M. Keck Career Development Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also has appointments with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (where he is a core member) and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. He is most well known for playing a central role in the development of optogenetics and CRISPR technologies.

Zhang was born in China and moved to Iowa with his mother at age 11, where he attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, graduating in 2000. In 1999 he attended the acclaimed Research Science Institute at MIT, and in 2000 he won 3rd Place in the Intel Science Talent Search. He earned his A.B. in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard University in 2004 where he worked with Xiaowei Zhuang. He then received his Ph.D. in chemistry and bioengineering from Stanford University in 2009 under the guidance of Karl Deisseroth where he developed the technologies behind optogenetics with Edward Boyden. He served as an independent Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows.

Zhang's lab is focused on using synthetic biology to develop technologies for genome and epigenome engineering to study neurobiology. As a postdoc, he began work on using TAL effectors to control gene transcription.

Based on previous work by the Sylvain Moineau Lab, Dr. Zhang began work to harness and optimize the CRISPR system to work in human cells in 2011. While Zhang's group was optimizing the Cas9 system in human cells, the collaborating groups of Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna reported a biochemical characterization of the CRISPR-Cas9 system, including the design of a single, chimeric guide RNA (sgRNA) capable of facilitating cleavage of DNA using purified Cas9 protein and sgRNA. Zhang's group further optimized this Doudna/Charpentier sgRNA design for expression in mammalian cells and subsequently reported the first application of Cas9 for genome editing in human cells the following year.

Zhang is a recipient of the NIH Pioneer Award and a Searle Scholar. He was named one of MIT Technology Reviews's TR35 in 2013. His work on optogenetics and CRISPR has been recognized by a number of awards including: the 2012 Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize (for optogenetics, shared with Boyden and Deisseroth; the 2014 Alan T. Waterman Award (for optogenetics and CRISPR-Cas9), the National Science Foundation's highest honor that annually recognizes an outstanding researcher under the age of 35; the 2014 Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award in Biotechnology and Medicine (for CRISPR-Cas9, shared with Doudna and Charpentier), and the 2014 Young Investigator Award from the Society for Neuroscience (for optogenetics and CRISPR-Cas9) and 2015 Tsuneko & Reiji Okazaki Award (Nagoya University) and the 2016 Canada Gairdner International Award (for CRISPR-Cas9, shared with Doudna and Charpentier), and he received the 2016 Tang Prize.

News
  • The Gene Hackers - The New Yorker

    At thirty-four, Feng Zhang is the youngest member of the core faculty at the Broad Institute of Harvard and M.I.T. He is also among the most accomplished.

FAQs
  • How do I book Feng Zhang to speak at my event?

    Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Feng Zhang for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Feng Zhang, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Feng Zhang or any other speaker of your choice.
  • What are the speaker fees for Feng Zhang

    Speaking fees for Feng Zhang, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Feng Zhang are available upon request for live events and available upon request for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Feng Zhang, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.
  • What topics does Feng Zhang speak about?

    Feng Zhang is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Science and Engineering, Science and Technology, STEM.
  • Where does Feng Zhang travel from?

    Feng Zhang generally travels from Massachusetts, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
  • Who is Feng Zhang’s agent?

    AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Feng Zhang for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Feng Zhang for your next private or corporate function.
  • What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

    AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Feng Zhang or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.
  • Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

    If you’re looking for the best, unbiased speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.
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This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent.

All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.

If you are the talent and wish to request a profile update or removal from our online directory, please submit a profile request form.

MIT Professor of Biomedical Engineering in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering

Travels From:
Massachusetts, USA
Speaking Fee:

Feng Zhang Biography

Feng Zhang (born 1982) is the W. M. Keck Career Development Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also has appointments with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (where he is a core member) and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. He is most well known for playing a central role in the development of optogenetics and CRISPR technologies.

Zhang was born in China and moved to Iowa with his mother at age 11, where he attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, graduating in 2000. In 1999 he attended the acclaimed Research Science Institute at MIT, and in 2000 he won 3rd Place in the Intel Science Talent Search. He earned his A.B. in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard University in 2004 where he worked with Xiaowei Zhuang. He then received his Ph.D. in chemistry and bioengineering from Stanford University in 2009 under the guidance of Karl Deisseroth where he developed the technologies behind optogenetics with Edward Boyden. He served as an independent Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows.

Zhang's lab is focused on using synthetic biology to develop technologies for genome and epigenome engineering to study neurobiology. As a postdoc, he began work on using TAL effectors to control gene transcription.

Based on previous work by the Sylvain Moineau Lab, Dr. Zhang began work to harness and optimize the CRISPR system to work in human cells in 2011. While Zhang's group was optimizing the Cas9 system in human cells, the collaborating groups of Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna reported a biochemical characterization of the CRISPR-Cas9 system, including the design of a single, chimeric guide RNA (sgRNA) capable of facilitating cleavage of DNA using purified Cas9 protein and sgRNA. Zhang's group further optimized this Doudna/Charpentier sgRNA design for expression in mammalian cells and subsequently reported the first application of Cas9 for genome editing in human cells the following year.

Zhang is a recipient of the NIH Pioneer Award and a Searle Scholar. He was named one of MIT Technology Reviews's TR35 in 2013. His work on optogenetics and CRISPR has been recognized by a number of awards including: the 2012 Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize (for optogenetics, shared with Boyden and Deisseroth; the 2014 Alan T. Waterman Award (for optogenetics and CRISPR-Cas9), the National Science Foundation's highest honor that annually recognizes an outstanding researcher under the age of 35; the 2014 Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award in Biotechnology and Medicine (for CRISPR-Cas9, shared with Doudna and Charpentier), and the 2014 Young Investigator Award from the Society for Neuroscience (for optogenetics and CRISPR-Cas9) and 2015 Tsuneko & Reiji Okazaki Award (Nagoya University) and the 2016 Canada Gairdner International Award (for CRISPR-Cas9, shared with Doudna and Charpentier), and he received the 2016 Tang Prize.

Speaker Lists Featuring Feng Zhang

FAQs on booking Feng Zhang

  • How do I book Feng Zhang to speak at my event?

    Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Feng Zhang for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Feng Zhang, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Feng Zhang or any other speaker of your choice.
  • What are the speaker fees for Feng Zhang

    Speaking fees for Feng Zhang, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Feng Zhang are available upon request for live events and available upon request for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Feng Zhang, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.
  • What topics does Feng Zhang speak about?

    Feng Zhang is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Science and Engineering, Science and Technology, STEM.
  • Where does Feng Zhang travel from?

    Feng Zhang generally travels from Massachusetts, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
  • Who is Feng Zhang’s agent?

    AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Feng Zhang for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Feng Zhang for your next private or corporate function.
  • What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

    AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Feng Zhang or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.
  • Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

    If you’re looking for the best, unbiased speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.

Feng Zhang is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics . The estimated speaking fee range to book Feng Zhang for your event is available upon request. Feng Zhang generally travels from MA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Emmanuelle Charpentier, Francis deSouza, Lauren Lyons, Adrienne Oda and Dr. Tierney Thys. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Feng Zhang for an upcoming live or virtual event.

Feng Zhang News

  • The Gene Hackers - The New Yorker

    At thirty-four, Feng Zhang is the youngest member of the core faculty at the Broad Institute of Harvard and M.I.T. He is also among the most accomplished.

Tell us about your event!

During normal business hours, we respond to most inquiries within 4 hours.

  • Customized Service

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    A reliable and unbiased point of contact

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Speakers Similar to Feng Zhang

This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent.

All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.

If you are the talent and wish to request a profile update or removal from our online directory, please submit a profile request form.

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