Edward F. Chang

Biosketch

Edward Chang, MD is the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Chair of the UCSF Department of Neurological Surgery. He earned his BA from Amherst College and his MD from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He completed his residency in Neurological Surgery and a fellowship in Functional Neurosurgery at UCSF before joining the faculty in 2010. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Neurological Surgery. Awards include the Blavatnik National Laureate of Life Sciences, Pradel Prize in Neuroscience, Gruber Prize in Neuroscience, and the Winn Prize in Neurosurgery.

Research Interests

Dr. Chang's work is defined by the powerful synergy between his clinical practice and his research. As a neurosurgeon, he specializes in treating patients with epilepsy and brain tumors, using advanced brain mapping techniques to protect vital functions like speech. This unique clinical access allows him to conduct pioneering research into how the brain produces language. His lab has created the most detailed functional maps of the human speech cortex. This foundational work led to the first successful brain-computer interface (BCI) that could decode brain signals associated with intended speech and translate them directly into text and a synthesized voice, offering a path to restore communication for paralyzed individuals.