Dr. Christopher J. Rozell is a researcher and educator advancing our understanding of brain function in health and disease, as well as the design of therapeutic neurotechnologies. Dr. Rozell's research is highly interdisciplinary and collaborative, living at the intersection neuroscience, data science, neuroengineering and cognitive science. His close clinical collaborations focus on developing scalable brain stimulation therapies for psychiatric disorders such as treatment resistant depression. In addition to his technical contributions, Dr. Rozell's scholarly activity also includes research and creative work that advances our understanding of the societal impacts of neurotechnology and amplifies lived experiences voices.
Dr. Rozell is currently the Executive Director of the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology & Society at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he is also the Julian T. Hightower Chaired Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering. He serves on the advisory boards for Motif Neurotech, Inc., the Institute of Neuroethics, and the Community for Rigor. Dr. Rozell is a proud first-generation scholar who co-founded Neuromatch, Inc., a nonprofit building an accessible global community of collaborative computational researchers. He received a B.S.E. degree in Computer Engineering and a B.F.A. degree in Music in 2000 from the University of Michigan, received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 2002 and 2007 from Rice University, and was a postdoctoral scholar at the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley.
His research impact has been celebrated through recognitions that include the James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Initiative Award (six international recipients), the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, election to Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and a US Congressional briefing celebrating the 10th anniversary of the NIH BRAIN Initiative. Beyond the laboratory, Dr. Rozell's training impact has been recognized by several awards, including the Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award and The Neuro – Irv and Helga Cooper Foundation Open Science International Prize (Neuromatch). His mentees have been recognized with several international awards (e.g., Schmidt Science Fellowship, Fulbright Fellowship, Open Philanthropy Technology Policy Fellowship, NIH K99/R00) and now hold leadership roles in a variety of academic, industry, and public policy institutions.
- Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, 2007
- M.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, 2002
- B.S.E., University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, 2000
- B.F.A., University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, 2000
Professor Rozell’s research in the Structured Information for Precision Neuroengineering Lab (SIPLab) is highly interdisciplinary and collaborative, living at the intersection neuroscience, data science, neuroengineering and cognitive science. This research uses a combination of novel human behavioral studies, multimodal data streams measuring the brain and body (including intracranial human neurophysiology), and advanced computational modeling to address the grand challenge of understanding brain function in health and in psychiatric disorders. His clinical focus is on advancing brain computer interfaces for psychiatric disorders such as treatment resistant depression, using a combination of AI and neurotechnology interventions such as deep brain stimulation.
Professor Rozell’s teaching interests encompass foundational and advanced courses in electrical and computer engineering, emphasizing signal processing, neural computation, and machine learning. His instruction integrates theoretical principles with practical applications at both undergraduate and graduate levels, fostering analytical and computational skills. He is committed to engaging students through research-oriented projects and collaborative learning experiences aimed at developing proficiency in emerging computational neuroscience and data science methodologies.
- Elected Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) (2025)
- BRAIN at 10 Award, NIH BRAIN Initiative Photo and Video Contest (2024)
- Featured panelist, "10 Years of BRAIN Initiative Funding — Building on a Decade of Innovation", Congressional briefing sponsored by the American Brain Coalition (2024)
- Sigma Xi Best Faculty Paper Award (Alagapan, et al., 2023) (2024)
- The Neuro – Irv and Helga Cooper Foundation Open Science International Prize to Neuromatch, Inc. (2022)
- Class of 1940 W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award (2019)
- James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Initiative Award (2014)
- National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2014)
- Demetrius T. Paris Junior Professor (2013-2014)
- CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (2013)
Media:
- A Newly Discovered Brain Signal Marks Recovery from Depression (Scientific American)
- Next-Gen Brain Implants Offer New Hope for Depression (IEEE Spectrum)
- A.H. Gazi et al., Modeling latent dynamics of the autonomic nervous system in response to trauma recall and non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, June 2025.
- S. Alagapan et al., Cingulate dynamics track depression recovery with deep brain stimulation, Nature, October 2023.
- M. O’Shaughnessy, D. Schiff, L. Varshney, C. Rozell, M. Davenport, What governs attitudes toward AI adoption and governance?, Science & Public Policy, April 2023.
- G. Canal, Y. Diaz‑Mercado, M. Egerstedt, C. Rozell, A low‑complexity brain–computer interface for high‑complexity robot swarm control, IEEE T‑NSRE, March 2023.
- M. O’Shaughnessy et al., Generative causal explanations of black‑box classifiers, NeurIPS, 2020.
View Goggle Scholar for complete list.