CNEPCenter for Neural Engineering & Prostheses
Center for Neural Engineering & Prostheses · UC Berkeley · UCSF

Engineering technology to restore function for people with neurological disabilities.

The Center for Neural Engineering & Prostheses is a collaborative enterprise of UCSF and the University of California, Berkeley. The center brings together experts in engineering, neurology and neurosurgery to develop state-of-the-art biomedical technology to restore function for patients with neurological disabilities such as paralysis and speech disorders.

Illustration of multi-channel neural recordings over an electrode arrayCH 01CH 02CH 03CH 04CH 05CH 06CH 07CH 08UNITS500 ms
Multi-channel cortical recording over an electrode arrayIllustration
Founded
2010
Berkeley & San Francisco
Campuses
UC Berkeley
& UCSF
Two campuses, one community
Faculty
32
Engineers, neuroscientists and clinicians
Annual meeting
100+
Participants, January 2026
What we work on

Restoring sensory, motor and cognitive function.

Across our projects we apply the latest approaches in data science, electrical engineering, neuroscience, and an array of clinical specialties to develop ground-breaking solutions for patients.

01
Sensory function
Interfaces that restore or augment sensory experience for people who have lost it, drawing on neural recording, stimulation and signal processing.
02
Motor function
Brain-computer interfaces and neuroprosthetic systems that let people with paralysis move, reach and act in the world again.
03
Communication & cognition
Real-time decoding of the brain's speech signals and approaches to recover cognitive capacities, for people who have lost the ability to communicate.
04
Neuropsychiatric symptoms
Closed-loop neuromodulation for severe conditions such as major depression and chronic pain, pairing engineering with clinical neuroscience.
Our model

Engineering and clinical neuroscience, side by side.

Since its inception in 2010, CNEP has supported an unparalleled community of collaborative neural engineering researchers across UCSF and UC Berkeley. We foster cross-disciplinary collaborations, enable data and technology exchanges, and support top-tier training for the next generation of neural engineering innovators.

Leadership

Co-directed from both campuses.

Faculty

A world-class team.

More than two dozen faculty members from top institutions collaborating to harness the power of the human brain.

Attendees at the 2026 CNEP annual meeting
Annual meeting · January 16, 2026

One community, two campuses, one room.

CNEP's annual meetings bring together a dynamic community of researchers, engineers, clinicians, and trainees from UC Berkeley and UCSF to share ideas and spark new collaborations. At our most recent gathering, over 100 participants came together to present work spanning basic science, cutting-edge engineering, and translational neuroscience.

Tools & resources

For our community of innovators.

Support CNEP

Endow the next breakthrough.

Your gift will endow leading-edge collaborations among the best researchers to support breakthrough treatments and technologies.