Karl Deisseroth, M.D., Ph.D.

AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2017

For developing revolutionary tools for neuroengineering: optogenetics for cell-type, temporal and spatially specific neuronal activation or silencing, and Clarity for unprecedented imaging of brain tissue

Stanford professor Karl Deisseroth, Ph.D. ’98, M.D. ’00, wins 2026 Nobel Prize for new way to study the brain using light

Via stanforddaily | October 6, 2026

In 1992, Karl Deisseroth, Ph.D. ’98, M.D. ’00, arrived at Stanford to begin his MD-PhD training. By 2005, in a lab of his own on campus, he showed that a protein borrowed from pond algae and a flash of blue light could make cultured rat neurons fire on command.

On Monday, that work earned the professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for pioneering optogenetics — a technique that lets scientists control brain cells with light… Continue reading.

Karl Deisseroth elected to the National Academy of Engineering

Via National Academy of Engineering | February 7, 2019

National Academy of Engineering Elects 86 Members and 18 Foreign Members

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected 86 new members and 18 foreign members, announced NAE President C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., on February 7, 2019. This brings the total U.S. membership to 2,297 and the number of foreign members to 272.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

Individuals in the newly elected class will be formally inducted during a ceremony at the NAE’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2019… Click to see the full list.