Welcome to the Chen Ultrasound Laboratory! Our mission is to advance the field of NeuroSonics by integrating breakthroughs in neuroscience and ultrasonics to develop noninvasive ultrasound technologies that deepen our understanding of brain function and transform the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases.
Our team is searching for graduate students, postdocs, technicians, or staff scientists from diverse scientific backgrounds. For further details on this opportunity, please email Dr. Chen at hongchen@wustl.edu.
Recent news
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 […]
Chen Ultrasound Lab receives R01 from NCI in collaboration with Dr. Eric Leuthardt
A total of $3.2 million fund is awarded to Drs. Leuthardt and Chen for five years in support of their clinical study of an ultrasound-mediated blood-based liquid biopsy technique for noninvasive molecular diagnosis of glioblastoma. Glioblastoma patients will be recruited to evaluate the feasibility and safety of this technique. Developing a noninvasive technique to diagnose […]
Dezhuang Receives Young Investigator Award & Bracco Women in Science Award
Dezhuang (Summer) Ye recently received the Young Investigator Award at the 8th International Symposium on Focused Ultrasound. This award recognizes outstanding research by scientists-in-training in the field of focused ultrasound. Dezhuang was awarded for her work on ultrasound enabled incisionless brain gene delivery and ultrasound manipulation of the glymphatic system. At the symposium, Dezhuang also […]
Chinwendu Chukwu Receives Poster Award at WashU’s BME PhD Retreat
Chinwendu (Chinwe) Chukwu received an “Early Stage” PhD Student award at WashU’s 2022 BME PhD retreat. This award was given to early-stage doctoral candidates who presented promising research during the retreat’s poster sessions. Congratulations to Chinwe on this wonderful achievement!
Chen Lab Develops Noninvasive FUS-Mediated Intranasal Delivery Method
Led by Dr. Dezhuang (Summer) Ye, the Chen lab recently developed a new method for delivering genes to the brain, called Focused Ultrasound-mediated Intranasal Delivery (FUSIN). Dr. Ye and her team recently found that the FUSIN-delivered genes had comparable or better outcomes than existing methods while minimizing systemic effects on other organs. Dr. Ye’s study […]
Yaoheng Yang Receives SfN’s 2022 Trainee Professional Development Award
Yaoheng (Mack) Yang has been selected as a recipient of a 2022 Trainee Professional Development Award (TPDA) from the Society of Neuroscience (SfN). This award is given to scientists who have demonstrated great merit and strength in their research. Congratulations, Mack, on this wonderful achievement!
Chen Lab Develops New Practical Method for Generating Airy Beams
Led by Zhongtao Hu, the Chen lab recently developed a unique technique for generating ultrasound waves that can self-bend. The team designed and 3D printed a flexible and versatile tool known as Airy beam-enabled binary acoustic metasurfaces (AB-BAMs) for ultrasound beam manipulation. They then demonstrated the capability of AB-BAMs in water, as depicted in the […]
Chen Lab Retreat 2022
The Chen Ultrasound Lab had an eventful past weekend as they journeyed to Ridgedale, MO for their annual lab retreat. During the retreat, lab members participated in team building activities such as hiking through Table Rock Lakeshore Trail, relaxing at Moonshine Beach, and participating in a science-themed trivia game night. The team has plenty of […]
Zhongtao Received Poster Award at The 2022 Gordon Conference
Zhongtao Hu received a Poster Award at the 2022 Gordon Conference on In Vivo Ultrasound Imaging. He presented on his design and 3D printing of the Airy Beam-enabled Binary Acoustic Metasurfaces (AB-BAMs). This tool enables flexible and versatile ultrasound beam manipulation, including a sharply focused, tunable, steerable beam, which is useful for various ultrasound applications. […]
WUSEF Students Join Chen Lab For Summer 2022
Two students, Natalia Alonzo (left) and Camila Maneiro (right), have joined the Chen lab for summer 2022. These undergraduate students are part of WashU’s Summer Engineering Fellowship (WUSEF) program, a program designed to encourage exceptional STEM students from underrepresented backgrounds to participate in engineering research. We are very excited to have Natalia and Camila this summer […]