Charles Lieber, the former Harvard chemistry professor convicted in 2021 of lying to federal authorities and breaking tax laws tied to payments from China, is now leading state-backed brain-computer interface research in Shenzhen. [1]
Lieber serves as founding director and chair professor at i-BRAIN, which sits under the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation. [1] He arrived in Shenzhen in April 2025 and took charge of the lab after a career that began at Harvard in 1991. [1]
At Harvard, Lieber worked on nanoscale materials and nanoelectronics, research that overlapped with neural interfaces and brain-computer technologies. [1] He also led Harvard's chemistry and chemical biology department from 2015 to 2020. [1]
A federal jury convicted Lieber in December 2021 of making false statements to federal authorities, filing false tax returns and failing to disclose foreign bank accounts. [1] A federal judge sentenced him in April 2023 to time served, six months of home confinement, a $50,000 fine and restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. [1]
His current role in Shenzhen places him at the center of a Chinese-backed push into brain-computer interface research. [1]
