ShiNung Ching

Research

Professor ShiNung Ching’s research combines engineering, dynamical systems theory and neuroscience to explore how dynamics in brain networks relate to function in health and disease states. At Washington University in St. Louis, he leads an interdisciplinary research group investigating various questions about the relationships between brain dynamics and function. Research in Professor Ching’s group includes theoretical investigations and data-centric analyses in collaboration with basic and clinical neuroscientists. While he has diverse interests, concepts of dynamics, optimization and control are central to his approaches to understanding brain function. Dr. Ching’s research outcomes have appeared in leading science and engineering journals, such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Anesthesiology, Brain, The Journal of Neuroscience, Clinical Neurophysiology and the Journal of Computational Neuroscience.

Biography

ShiNung Ching is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. His research interests lie at the intersection of engineering and computational neuroscience, particularly in using systems and control theory concepts to study the dynamics and function of neuronal networks. His research includes efforts to provide new scientific characterizations of brain function from data and models, as well as clinical work aimed at improving neural technology, including neurostimulation for cognitive enhancement.

Dr. Ching completed his BEng (Hons.) and MASc degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from McGill University and the University of Toronto, respectively, in Canada. He earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2009, focusing on systems and control theory. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral training in computational neuroscience and anesthesiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School. He has authored over 100 publications in academic journals and conferences, including the textbook Quasilinear Control. Dr. Ching has received the CAREER Award from the US National Science Foundation, the Young Investigator Program award from the US AFOSR, and a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund. He has also served as principal investigator on research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Defense.

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