Science CEO and Co-Founder Max Hodak is a biomedical engineer by training and founded the company with the vision to restore and extend life by transcending the limits of biology. Hodak has a “neural engineering centric view of healthcare,” focusing on how technology can enhance and transform the brain’s biology. Science focuses on restoring lost biological capabilities, from vision to cognition to mobility, through brain-computer interfaces (BCI).
Science’s first product, a BCI called PRIMA, is an implant and glasses that are designed to replace the function of light-sensitive cells in the eye that have been lost due to degenerative retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Stargardt disease, and retinitis pigmentosa. The PRIMA implant is powered by the photovoltaic effect, transforming the near-infrared light projected by the glasses into electric current. In October 2025, The New England Journal of Medicine published the results of the PRIMA clinical trial in a peer-reviewed original paper — a study evaluating the safety and efficacy of PRIMA in 38 patients with geographic atrophy due to AMD. In the trial, 84% of patients reported the ability to read letters, numbers, and words. A corresponding NEJM editorial, stated that “[PRIMA]… represents the first treatment to restore vision in persons with advanced geographic atrophy.”
Science works to restore quality of life to those with debilitating conditions for which there are no treatment options, creating devices aimed at restoring vision, cognition, and mobility to patients who have lost it. In addition to PRIMA, Science’s two other major projects include Biohybrid, a neural interface technology that uses living neurons to connect to the brain instead of wires, and Vessel, a next-generation perfusion circuit designed to extend how long organs can be safely maintained outside the body for transplantation and critical care.
Hodak is fascinated by how BCI devices could transform the brain. He believes that what’s coming with the combination of AI and BCIs could transform what humans think is possible when it comes to longevity, even within the next ten years, “that reframe how we think about the human condition.”
Hodak spent his undergraduate years immersed in BCI research and earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, where he worked in the prestigious Nicolelis Lab, known for its BCI research and development, studying neural representations. His primary research and professional focus has been on neural engineering and the brain.
Prior to founding Science, Hodak was president of Neuralink, which he co-founded in 2016. Hodak was recently named to the 2026 TIME100 Health, a list of the world’s most influential leaders in health. Please join us in welcoming Max Hodak to the DOC 2026 Faculty and the DOC community.