Optogenetics, Biohybrid Implants And The Future Of Brain-Computer Interfaces — Dr. Alan Mardinly Ph.D. — CSO & Co-Founder, Science

What if we could restore vision, communicate directly with the brain, and even extend human life—not with machines alone, but with living, engineered biology?

Dr. Alan Mardinly, Ph.D. is the Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Science Corp. (https://science.xyz/), a neurotechnology company developing next-generation brain interfaces and biohybrid neural implants aimed at restoring human function.

Dr. Mardinly leads the company’s biohybrid program, focused on combining genetically engineered cells with advanced optical hardware to create optogenetic therapies for vision restoration and new types of brain-machine interfaces.

Dr. Mardinly has spent more than 15 years working at the intersection of neuroscience, genetics, and neural engineering.

Dr. Mardinly earned his PhD in Neurobiology from Harvard University, where his research explored how experience and activity-dependent gene programs shape synaptic plasticity in inhibitory neurons—work that helped illuminate how neural circuits maintain stability while adapting to learning and sensory experience.

Following Harvard, Dr. Mardinly conducted postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley, where he helped pioneer holographic optogenetics, a technology capable of stimulating specific neurons with extraordinary spatial and temporal precision.

Dr. Mardinly later joined Neuralink, where he served as Director of Biology, leading teams focused on advancing brain-machine interface technologies.