Key Points
- Two researchers have been selected for the inaugural Postdoctoral Fellowships in Focused Ultrasound.
- Learn more about the recipients and their plans to investigate focused ultrasound for Alzheimer’s disease and the intersection of the technology with radiation therapy.
The Foundation recently launched the Postdoctoral Fellowship in Focused Ultrasound to help postdoctoral researchers transition into faculty positions. We are pleased to announce the inaugural fellows are Dezhuang (Summer) Ye, PhD, and Stecia-Marie Fletcher, PhD.
Dr. Ye is a postdoctoral research associate at Washington University in St. Louis and will complete her fellowship under the guidance of Hong Chen, PhD. Her work will explore the use of focused ultrasound to enable glymphatic clearance for treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Dr. Ye has previously published data suggesting that focused ultrasound combined with microbubbles can mechanically manipulate glymphatic flow and plans to build upon those findings by exploring the technique as a noninvasive and non-pharmaceutical approach to addressing AD.
Dr. Ye was also the recipient of the Bracco Women in Focused Ultrasound Award and a Young Investigator Award at the Foundation’s 2022 Symposium.
Dr. Fletcher is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Focused Ultrasound Laboratory in the Department of Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Her work involves investigating applications of MRI-guided focused ultrasound for therapeutic delivery and thermal and mechanical ablation in the brain. Dr. Fletcher’s long-term research interests include the use of focused ultrasound to improve therapeutic outcomes for central nervous system (CNS) diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders and CNS cancers like glioblastoma. During her fellowship, she will build upon her ongoing work investigating the combined effects of focused ultrasound and radiation therapy in neurosurgery under the guidance of Nathan McDannold, PhD.
Dr. Ye and Dr. Fletcher will each receive a $30,000 stipend per year.
“The Foundation is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of excellent focused ultrasound clinicians and scientists,” said Chrit Moonen, PhD, the Foundation’s scientific program director. “Dr. Fletcher and Dr. Ye will help the field with their innovative ideas, and this funding will ideally set them up to do so.”