John P. Donoghue, Ph.D., Chairman of the Department of Neuroscience Research Interests

Neuroscientist John Donoghue, Ph.D., is the Henry Merritt Wriston professor and chairman of the Department of Neuroscience as well as executive director of the Brain Science Program at Brown. He helped develop the undergraduate neuroscience concentration and helped establish the Brain Science Program.

Professor Donoghue’s research examines how the brain turns thought into action. Specifically, it focuses on the codes that sets of neurons use to convey complex information. With funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and other sources, his laboratory has performed over twenty years of work on brain-computer interfaces, fueling international interest. His articles have appeared in top journals such as Science, Nature, and the Journal of Neuroscience. He has served on advisory panels for NIH and NASA. Dr. Donoghue is co-founder and chief scientific officer of Cyberkinetics, Inc., a biotechnology start-up that is designing brain implants to restore movement to people who are paralyzed.