Welcome to the Chen Ultrasound Laboratory! Our research laboratory combines engineering, biology, and medicine to develop innovative focused ultrasound techniques to improve the lives of patients with brain diseases.
Our team is currently searching for graduate students, postdocs, technicians, or staff scientists who are interested in joining us. For further details on this opportunity, kindly contact Dr. Chen via email at hongchen@wustl.edu.
Recent news
Cordance Receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Sonobiopsy
In just 5 years, our team turned the revolutionary Sonobiopsy technology from concept to commercialization amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This technology provides a noninvasive solution to brain disease diagnostics through the use of focused ultrasound for release of disease-specific biomarkers from brain to blood, which can further be detected and characterized using liquid-based biopsy. Cordance […]
Noninvasive Sonobiopsy is Feasible and Safe in Humans
Dr. Hong Chen and Dr. Eric Leuthardt, MD have laid the foundation for a revolutionary technique that noninvasively surveys the molecular and genetic information of brain tumors. This technique, termed sonobiopsy, uses focused ultrasound and microbubbles to precisely and accurately target a brain tumor lesion, temporarily disrupt the blood brain barrier at the target region, […]
Chen Lab received two NIH R01 awards
The Chen lab recently received two NIH awards to fund their research on ultrasound combined with genetics for treatment of brain disorders. One of the awards — a five-year, $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke — will fund the team’s transformative Sonogenetics 2.0 research, […]
Dingyue received best poster award at 2023 IC-UEBA
Dingyue (Doris) Zhang received her first best poster award at the 15th International Conference on Ultrasound Engineering for Biomedical Applications (IC-UEBA). This award was given to the best three posters during the conference poster sessions. Congratulations to Dingyue on this wonderful achievement!
Hong Chen’s Team Induces Torpor-Like State Using Ultrasound
Some animals have an extraordinary ability to conserve energy by going into torpor, a physiological state marked by reduced body temperature and metabolic activity, which enables them to survive adverse environmental conditions such as harsh weather or lack of food. Hong Chen’s team, led by Yaoheng (Mack) Yang, demonstrated safe and noninvasive induction of torpor-like […]
Summer wins Outstanding Poster Award at the American Society of Gene + Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting
Among more than 1,500 poster presentations at the 2023 ASGCT annual meeting, Dezhuang (Summer) Ye’s poster won the Outstanding Poster Award. The title of her poster presentation was “Focused ultrasound-mediated intranasal delivery for AAV delivery to targeted brain regions with minimal systemic exposure”.
Our glymphatic paper is published in PNAS
Like the lymphatic system in the body, the glymphatic system in the brain clears metabolic waste and distributes nutrients and other important compounds. Impairments in this system may contribute to brain diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases and stroke. Dezhuang (Summer) Ye in collaboration with the team found a noninvasive and nonpharmaceutical method to influence glymphatic […]
Yaoheng Yang Wins BME PhD Thesis Award
Congratulations to Dr. Yaohang (Mack) Yang for winning the BME PhD Outstanding Dissertation Award at WashU! This award is given to recognize a comprehensive body of independent scholarship that significantly advances the discipline. Yaohang’s thesis work has undoubtedly advanced the field of sonogenetics and neuromodulation. Congratulations for your amazing achievements!
We are hiring!
POSITION SUMMARY We are actively looking for highly motivated PhD students, postdocs, and staff scientists to join our dynamic and collaborative lab situated at Washington University Medical School. Our lab is generously funded by the NIH and is dedicated to developing innovative tools for modulating neuron activities, diagnosing brain diseases, and revolutionizing their treatment. Our […]
Focused ultrasound-mediated liquid biopsy detects biomarkers of neurodegenerative disorders
The Hong Chen lab is developing a noninvasive method for release and detection of biomarkers characteristic of neurodegenerative disorders. Tau proteins in the brain are characteristic of several neurodegenerative disorders, and the Chen Ultrasound lab, along with collaborators, have found that using focused-ultrasound-mediated liquid biopsy, a method known as sonobiopsy, in a mouse model released […]