Quing Zhu

Research

Over the past two decades, Professor Zhu’s research has focused on developing advanced imaging technologies and translating them into clinical applications for cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment-response assessment. Working closely with physicians and scientists, her team has made significant contributions across multiple cancer types:

• Breast Cancer: Pioneered the integration of ultrasound and near-infrared (NIR) imaging for clinical diagnosis and for predicting and assessing treatment response in advanced breast cancer, advancing this work into an AI-assisted imaging platform.
• Ovarian Cancer: Led the development of co-registered ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging techniques for accurate diagnosis, including innovations in AI-assisted imaging platforms.
• Colorectal and Rectal Cancer: Advanced co-registered photoacoustic microscopy and ultrasound for colorectal cancer diagnosis and for predicting rectal cancer treatment response. Her team has developed AI-based dual-modality assessment methods aimed at automating non-invasive, accurate evaluation to reduce unnecessary rectal removal.
• Endoscopic Imaging: Made original contributions to optical coherence tomography (OCT)–based endoscopic imaging for colorectal and endometrial cancers, including AI- assisted diagnostic approaches.

Biography

Professor Qing Zhu joined Washington University in St. Louis in July 2016 as a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Prior to joining WashU, she served as a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Connecticut.

Professor Zhu is a Fellow of Optica (formerly OSA), a Fellow of SPIE – the International Society for Optics and Photonics, and a Fellow of AIMBE – the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

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Affiliations

• Imaging Science PhD Program
• Center for Women’s Health Engineering