Key Points
- Dr. Kim is developing acoustic biosensors to study and monitor the dynamics of the tumor microenvironment to guide cancer immunotherapies.
- The one-year fellowship was established in 2021 by the Lockhart family in honor of their son.
Chulyong Kim, PhD, has been awarded the 2024 Andrew J. Lockhart Postdoctoral Fellowship in Focused Ultrasound and Immuno-Oncology.
The one-year fellowship is designed to support early-career researchers and help the Foundation cultivate the next generation of investigators to advance the development and clinical adoption of focused ultrasound in immuno-oncology.
Dr. Kim earned his PhD in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) under the mentorship of Costas Arvanitis, PhD. His doctoral research demonstrated that focused ultrasound–mediated hyperthermia can improve drug transport, therapeutic delivery, and the effectiveness of CAR-T cell therapy in solid brain tumors. For his fellowship, Dr. Kim will extend this expertise in the laboratory of Gabriel A. Kwong, PhD, in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
“This fellowship provides a great opportunity to build upon my PhD research in therapeutic ultrasound by developing a new class of smart, ultrasound-responsive biomolecular tools,” said Dr. Kim. “Our goal is to create a noninvasive platform that allows us to visualize the complex and dynamic tumor microenvironment. I believe this will unlock new strategies for guiding and monitoring treatments, including focused ultrasound and immunotherapies, to make them more precise and effective for every patient.”
The Lockhart family established the fellowship in January 2021 to honor their son, Andrew J. Lockhart, who passed away at the age of 39 from cholangiocarcinoma, a particularly virulent cancer affecting the biliary system of the liver and gallbladder. The Lockharts are longtime supporters of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.
Terry and Gene Lockhart, Andrew’s parents, expressed their sentiments, stating, “We firmly believe that it will require collaboration and groundbreaking ideas to unearth effective immunotherapies for aggressive cancers, such as the one that claimed our beloved son, Andrew. Our objective is to inspire a new generation of focused ultrasound researchers, and we are delighted to have Dr. Kim as the latest recipient of this distinguished fellowship.”
Previous recipients of the Andrew J. Lockhart Postdoctoral Fellowship are Jacob Young, MD, Yutong Guo, PhD, and Caitlyn Tydings, MD.