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CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION ALUMNUS ELECTED TO THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
(McLean, VA, May 3, 2018) – The Center for Excellence in Education’s (CEE) alumnus and Member of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Feng Zhang, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Zhang attended CEE’s internationally renowned Research Science Institute (RSI) as a high school student in 1999 and joined CEE’s Board of Trustees in 2017. “CEE’s RSI program helped me learn how to turn curiosity about the natural world into scientific experiments that allowed us to ask and answer questions in the lab.
“This is a wonderful accolade for Dr. Zhang and another outstanding accomplishment by CEE’s RSI alumni,” said Joann DiGennaro, CEE President. “I am so very proud of Dr. Zhang and the remarkable research he is leading. It means a great deal for the future of global science and medicine.”
Zhang is a bioengineer focused on developing tools to better understand nervous system function and disease. His lab applies these novel tools to interrogate gene function and study neuropsychiatric disorders in animal and stem cell models. Since joining MIT and the Broad Institute in January 2011, Zhang has pioneered the development of genome editing tools for use in eukaryotic cells — including human cells — from natural microbial CRISPR systems. He also developed a breakthrough technology called optogenetics with Karl Deisseroth at Stanford University and Edward Boyden, now of MIT.
Zhang, the Patricia and James Poitras ’63 Professor in Neuroscience at MIT, associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences and of biological engineering, and member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the Broad Institute was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of his “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”
Zhang is among 84 new members and 21 new foreign associates elected to the NAS. Membership in the NAS is one of the most significant honors given to academic researchers.
About the Center for Excellence in Education
The Center for Excellence in Education was founded in 1983 by the late Admiral H.G. Rickover and Joann P. DiGennaro, President of the Center. CEE's mission is to nurture high school and university scholars to careers of excellence and leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and to encourage collaboration between and among leaders in the global community. CEE’s programs include the Research Science Institute (RSI), the USA Biology Olympiad (USABO), and the Teacher Enrichment Program (TEP).