Chen named finalist for Sony Women in Technology Award
Hong Chen is a renowned expert in focused ultrasound
Hong Chen, an expert in turning discovery in neuroscience into health through focused ultrasound at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named a finalist for the Sony Women in Technology Awards with Nature.
From the eight finalists, three Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature awardees will be selected to receive the prize, to be announced Feb. 19, 2026, in Tokyo.
Launched in March 2024, the Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature recognizes outstanding early to mid-career researchers from the field of technology with a prize of $250,000 each to support their research and accelerate achievements that will drive positive impact in the world.
Chen, professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and of neurosurgery at WashU Medicine, received the National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award in 2024 to use ultrasound to induce a hibernation-like state in mammals — something that was previously considered to be science fiction. The five-year, $5.4 million award was one of eight awarded following a highly competitive application and interview by peer scientist-researchers nationwide. Also in 2024, she was named a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors. In 2020, she received the Frederic Lizzi Early Career Award from the International Society of Therapeutic Ultrasound (ISTU), which recognizes individuals early in their professional career who have contributed substantially to the advancement of therapeutic ultrasound.
In recognition of her exceptional mentorship and teaching, she was honored with the 2024 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award and the 2019 Chair's Award for Outstanding Teaching from WashU.
Chen joined WashU in July 2015. She is a faculty member of the Division of Neurotechnology in the Department of Neurosurgery and a member of the Brain Tumor Center. She is also an affiliated faculty of the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences, the Siteman Cancer Center, the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences and the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, all at the School of Medicine.
From 2012 to 2015, she was a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. She earned a doctorate in bioengineering from the University of Washington in 2011.
