Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Charles Jennings is Executive Director of the Program for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience and the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Disease at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He joined BWH in 2017 and is also appointed as a lecturer in neurology at Harvard Medical School.

Originally from the UK, Dr. Jennings received his Ph.D. in neurobiology from University College London, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying embryonic development and the formation of neuromuscular synapses. In 1993 he joined the scientific journal Nature as an editor, and in 1998 he was appointed as founding chief editor of the newly announced journal Nature Neuroscience, based in New York. He held this position for five years, during which the journal established itself as one of the preeminent journals in its field. In 2003 he became executive editor of all the Nature monthly research journals, responsible for managing the editorial department and developing long-term editorial and publishing strategies for the Nature Publishing Group.

After a decade in scientific publishing, Dr. Jennings returned to Harvard in 2004 as the first executive director of the newly established Harvard Stem Cell Institute. In 2006 he moved to MIT, as director of the McGovern Institute Neurotechnology Program, supporting collaborative projects across all areas of neuroscience, within and beyond MIT. He was also responsible for establishing and overseeing core facilities at MIT and for raising funds for strategic programs in diverse fields, including brain imaging, high-performance computing, gene delivery and transgenic animal models.

In December 2017 Dr. Jennings moved to Brigham and Women's Hospital, as Executive Director of the Program for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience and of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Disease. He is working with faculty leaders to develop a new hospital-wide program that focuses on all areas of brain research, cutting across disciplines and departments including neurology, psychiatry, neurosurgery, radiology, pathology, women's health, and others. He also oversees core facilities that serve the neuroscience community, providing access to advanced instruments and technologies with the overall goal of accelerating research into brain function and brain disorders.