Hu elected Fellow of Optica
Song Hu was elected for his contributions to photoacoustic microscopy
Song Hu, professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has been elected a Fellow of Optica.
Optica, formerly known as the Optical Society of America or OSA, is an international organization at the forefront of the optics and photonics field. The title of Fellow recognizes individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to the advancement of optics and photonics in areas including research, education, engineering, business and society. Fewer than 10% of the total membership can be elected a Fellow.
The honor recognizes Hu’s outstanding achievements that help shape the future of optics and photonics. One of 121 newly elected members from 27 countries in the 2025 class, Hu was specifically selected for pioneering contributions to the development of photoacoustic microscopy for high-resolution functional and metabolic imaging in vivo.
Hu’s research focuses on developing cutting-edge optical and photoacoustic technologies for high-resolution structural, functional, metabolic and molecular imaging in vivo and their applications in neurovascular disorders, cardiovascular diseases, regenerative medicine, and cancer. His lab has invented multi-parametric photoacoustic microscopy, which enables simultaneous imaging of blood perfusion, oxygenation and flow at the microscopic level and lays the technical foundation for high-resolution oxygen-metabolic imaging. In addition, his lab has developed the first-of-a-kind head-restrained photoacoustic microscopy for high-resolution hemodynamic and metabolic imaging in the awake-behaving brain, addressing a long-standing challenge in brain research.
