He is a Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Physiology & Pharmacology[2] at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, where he directs the Laboratory of Translational Neuroscience.

[4] He serves on the Advisory Board of Scientific American: Mind, and on the Leadership Team of the Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security at Arizona State University.

In 2014, he moved to Brooklyn, NY, as Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Physiology & Pharmacology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center,[7] where he directs the Laboratory of Translational Neuroscience.

Some of his awards include: Macknik's research has been featured in print in The New York Times,[12] The New Yorker,[13] The Wall Street Journal,[14][15] The Atlantic,[16] Wired, The LA Chronicle, The Times (London), The Chicago Tribune,[17] The Boston Globe,[18] Der Spiegel, etc., and in radio and TV shows, including Discovery Channel's Head Games and Daily Planet shows, NOVA: scienceNow,[19] CBS Sunday Morning,[20] NPR's Science Friday,[21] and PRI's The World.

[22] Macknik is married to fellow neuroscientist and frequent collaborator Susana Martinez-Conde,[23] who is also a professor and laboratory director at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

Macknik and Martinez-Conde are credited with founding the discipline of Neuromagic[26] as an area of scientific study devoted to unveiling the neural mechanisms underlying the perception of magic.

Macknik's book Sleights of Mind,[28] co-written with Susana Martinez-Conde and Sandra Blakeslee, is an international bestseller published in 19 languages.