Dr Zhihai Qiu's Story

Dr Zhihai Qiu
PhD Graduate (2019) from the Department of Biomedical Engineering

I am working on understanding the mechanisms of transcranial ultrasound (TUS) neuromodulation and its applications in treating brain disorders.  My ongoing research in the Department of Radiology of Stanford University is extremely interdisciplinary.  It involves developing biomedical instruments, designing and performing preclinical experiments, and exploring the possible clinical translations.  The challenge is that you must find important clinical and biological questions and hypothesis, provide biomedical engineering solutions, and collaborate with biologists to answer the questions and validate the hypothesis.  My current research is the extension of my PhD study in PolyU, where I uncovered the cellular mechanism of TUS neuromodulation and developed a sonogenetic toolkit for precise activation of targeted neurons in the brain. 

By completing my PhD study, I obtained comprehensive training on various experimental skills, critical thinking mind, and the ability to communicate with people from different background which make me confident and easy to handle the challenges.  My future goal is to help patients and biologist with biomedical engineering approaches.