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College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Biomedical Engineering
HomePeopleCongwu Du

Congwu Du, Ph.D.

Professor
Brain Optical Imaging Laboratory

RESEARCH FOCUS

Congwu DuThe broad goal of this laboratory is to develop advanced optical instrumentation to detect and characterize physiological processes in living biological systems such as brain and heart. More specifically, cutting-edge optical spectroscopy and imaging techniques are developed that permit simultaneous detection of cerebral blood flow, blood volume and tissue oxygenation, as well as intracellular calcium in vivo. We are interested in studying drug-induced abnormalities of the brain function. Cocaine is chosen as one of the preliminary drugs for our research applications because it affects cerebral hemodynamcs, metabolism, and neuronal activities in the brain. The mechanisms that underlie cocaine's neurotoxic effects are not fully understood, partially due to the technical limitations of current neuroimaging techniques to differentiate cerebrovascular from neuronal effects at sufficiently high temporal and spatial resolutions. To solve this problem, we have developed a multimodal imaging platform that combines multi-wavelength laser speckle imaging, optical coherence tomography, and calcium fluorescence imaging to enable simultaneous detection of cortical hemodynamics, cerebral metabolism, and neuronal activities of animal brain in vivo, as well as its integration with microprobes for imaging neuronal function in deep brain regions in vivo. Results of our studies from in vivo animal brain demonstrate these novel multimodalities can be used to compliment other neuroimaging modalities (e.g., PET, fMRI) for investigating brain functional changes such as those induced by drugs of abuse.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

  • 1998-1999, Research Associate, (NIH) Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research & (NSF) Center for Light Microscope Imaging & Biotechnology, Carnegie Mellon University
  • 1996-1997, Post-doctoral Fellow, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Univ. of Pennsylvania
  • 1996 PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Luebeck University, Germany
  • 1988 M.Sc., Optoelectronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science & Technology
  • 1985 B.Sc.,  Near-Infrared Optics, Huazhong University of Science & Technology

Professional experience

  • 2014 - current: Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University
  • 2009 - 2014: Associate Professor, Departments of Anesthesiology, Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University
  • 2010 - 2012: Scientist, Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory
  • 2004 - 2009: Associate Scientist, Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory
  • 2006 - 2009: Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Stony Brook University
  • 2002 - 2004: Assistant Scientist, Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory
  • 2000 - 2002: Visiting Scientist, (NIH) Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University
  • 1988 -1992: Lecturer, Department of Lasers and Optical Engineering, University of Science and Technology

Honors

  • 2016: Millionaires Club award, CEAS, Stony Brook University
  • 2016: Cutting-Edge Basic Research Award, NIH
  • 2010: Outstanding Mentor Award, Office of Science, Department of Energy
  • 2009: Award of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, NIH
  • 2007: Mentored Quantitative Research Development Award, NIH
  • 1997: Award of Excellent Achievements in Tissue Oximetry, Johnson Research Foundation

PUBLICATIONS

Publications via Google Scholar.

COURSES TAUGHT

  • BME 311 - Fundamentals of Macro to Molecular Bioimaging (SBU);
  • BME 503 - Cell, Molecular & Biomedical Optical Imaging (SBU);