Matthew Howard MD is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Iowa. Dr. Howard received his undergraduate degree in physics from Tufts University. As a medical student at the University of Virginia he collaborated with neurosurgery resident Dr. Sean Grady and Professor of Physics Rogers Ritter to invent the magnetic surgery system (MSS), whereby flexible implants within the body are guided by externally generated magnetic fields. That system is now used to perform robotic cardiac ablation procedures in patients throughout the world. 

 Dr. Howard received his neurosurgery residency training at the University of Washington and Atkinson Morley’s Hospital in London, England. During his residency he was awarded an NIH Individual National Research Award to pursue two years of post-doctoral fellowship training in cortical electrophysiology research. In 1993 he joined the faculty at the University of Iowa and established the Human Brain Research Laboratory (HBRL) with collaborating neuroscience colleagues throughout the U.S. and overseas. Dr. Howard has received continuous NIH funding as a Principal Investigator since 1995, and HBRL research findings are regularly published in leading scientific journals including Nature, Nature Neuroscience and Nature Communications. In 2014 Dr. Howard was selected by the Society of Neurological Surgery as the recipient of the Winn Prize, which is the specialty’s highest award for career achievement in neuroscience research.

Dr. Howard is an experienced medical device inventor with over 30 issued U.S. Patents, and he has co-founded 4 university spin-off medical device companies. Dr. Howard was elected a fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors in 2018.