Dr. Qifa Zhou is a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology in the USC Keck School of Medicine as well as the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California. He is one of the leading principle investigators at the NIH Resource Center on Medical Transducer Technology. Dr. Zhou has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles in journals including Nature Medicine, Scientific Reports and Progress in Materials Science. His research focuses on high-frequency ultrasound composite and single-crystal ultrasound transducers and arrays, fabricated by MEMS technology for various biomedical imaging applications. His lab is the first to have developed high-sensitivity PMN-PT single-crystal transducers for ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging, including intravascular imaging, cancer imaging, and ophthalmic imaging. He and his collaborators have been developing a novel imaging tool for characterizing the elastic properties of retinal and corneal tissue by acoustic radiation force-induced optical coherence electrography. He is also actively exploring ultrasonic-mediated therapeutic technology, including trans-sclera drug delivery, as well as ultrasound for retinal and brain stimulation.

Dr. Peter Yingxiao Wang is currently the department chair and professor in the Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California. He is also a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE), and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). Dr. Wang is the recipient of the Wallace H. Coulter Early Career Award (both Phase I and Phase II), the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and the National Institutes of Health Independent Scientist Award. His research lab focuses on the integration of biotechnologies in cellular and molecular engineering for the development of genetically encoded biosensors and their application to visualize molecular events in live cells and animals. They also develop molecular sensors and transducers for the engineering of immune cells to control genetic and epigenetic activities targeting cancer immunotherapy. For example, his lab engineers CAR T cells and macrophages so that they can be remotely and non-invasively controlled by ultrasound waves to recognize and eradicate tumors.

Dr. Longwei Liu is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Ophthalmology, Keck School of Medicine, and Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California. Dr. Longwei Liu has received several prestigious awards, including the NIH Mentored Career Development Award (K01 award) and the Ming Hsieh Institute Research Award (MHIRA award). Dr. Longwei Liu specializes in immunoengineering and molecular engineering of biosensors for live-cell imaging. His research focuses on developing tools for understanding and manipulating genetic and molecular activities in live cells and animals. Specifically, he develops genetically encoded biosensors based on FRET or single fluorescent proteins using a directed evolution approach to visualize molecular signals in live cells with high spatiotemporal resolution. Guided by these new signaling insights, he also develops "smart" inducible immune cells that can be precisely controlled by focused ultrasound while maintaining high efficacy for cancer treatment. These genetic manipulation tools aim to rewire cellular functions both in vitro and in vivo, with accompanying signaling landscape dynamics revealed by genetically encoded biosensors and live-cell imaging.