Edward Chang, UCSF’s Department of Neurological Surgery, is a leading neurosurgeon who innovated the use of brain mapping to improve the safety and effectiveness of neurosurgery. Edward advanced neurobiology and received the 2022 Pradel Research Award for his study on the brain’s speech mechanism. His scientific advances in neurotechnology have revolutionized our understanding of speech perception and production.

Edward discovered key elements of the neural code of speech. He revealed how patterns of human cortical activity give rise to vowels, consonants, and features that compose them. In addition, he identified novel functional organization of cortical areas that process how sound translates to phonetic and prosodic information. Edward and his team uncovered critical data on the motor cortex’s usage of vocal movements when producing speech. These discoveries were used to develop novel-prosthetic technology that enabled full word decoding in people restoring communication from severe paralysis. The Pradel Research Award recognizes neuroscientists whose work is making major contributions to our understanding of the nervous system. Congratulations to Dr. Chang for being the 2022 recipient for this prestigious award.