RCPsych Honorary Fellow Professor Karl Deisseroth awarded Nobel Prize

---

The Royal College of Psychiatrists congratulates Honorary Fellow, Professor Karl Deisseroth on being jointly awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Professor Deisseroth shares the prize with Professor Peter Hegemann and Professor Georg Nagel for discoveries relating to light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. Optogenetics uses light-sensitive proteins to control the activity of individual nerve cells, allowing researchers to investigate specific cells and neural circuits in the brain. Professor Deisseroth developed methods that enabled the technique to be used in neuroscience research.

As well as being appointed the D.H. Chen Professor of Bioengineering and of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University, Professor Deisseroth is also a practising psychiatrist. He specialises in affective disorders and autism and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2018.

Professor Subodh Dave, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said:

“On behalf of the College, I offer my warmest congratulations to our Honorary Fellow Professor Karl Deisseroth on receiving this prestigious award.

“His pioneering work has opened up extraordinary new ways to understand the brain and represents a remarkable contribution to neuroscience and psychiatry.

“This is a thoroughly deserved honour and an outstanding achievement.”

Professor Deisseroth, Professor Hegemann and Professor Nagel will formally receive the Nobel Prize at an award ceremony in Stockholm in December.