Key Points
- Sarah Fong, PhD, has received the 2025 Foundation-sponsored American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Career Development Award.
- Dr. Fong’s project combines genetic engineering technologies with ultrasound to enhance novel gene therapies.
Last year, the Foundation partnered with the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) to sponsor one of the organization’s Career Development Awards.
These awards support independent transformative pilot studies in gene and cell therapy by ASGCT members, particularly those ideas that would be challenging to fund with normal funding mechanisms. The $100,000 grants help young researchers generate preliminary data that can lead to more substantial follow-on funding.
The Foundation is pleased to announce Sarah Fong, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at the University of California San Francisco, has received the 2025 Foundation-sponsored ASGCT Career Development Award.
Dr. Fong’s project, AI-Designed Focused Ultrasound Gene Regulation to Control AAV Transgene Expression, aims to improve gene therapies by engineering genes to respond to noninvasive stimuli, like focused ultrasound. To achieve this goal, she will use functional genomics and artificial intelligence methods to discover, design, and generate gene transcription responses upon ultrasound exposure. Her work combines genetic engineering technologies with ultrasound and will enhance the targeting and efficacy of novel gene therapies.
“Both functional genomics and focused ultrasound have made incredible progress in the last decade,” said Dr. Fong. “We now have the computational and genomic tools to measure and engineer gene expression responses to ultrasound. My work aims to bridge these ideas, and I think this is a great opportunity to combine these technologies to advance gene therapies. I am grateful to the Foundation and ASGCT for supporting my work at the intersection of these fields.”
“Sonogenetics is opening new frontiers in gene therapy by enabling precise, noninvasive control of gene expression using focused ultrasound,” said Frédéric Padilla, PhD, the Foundation’s director of the Gene and Cell Therapy Program. “The Foundation’s Gene Therapy Program is committed to advancing this cutting-edge approach, accelerating research that could transform treatments for cancer and neurological disorders. Supporting early-career researchers is essential to driving innovation in this space, ensuring that fresh ideas and pioneering approaches continue to shape the future of gene therapy. Our partnership with ASGCT plays a crucial role in bringing in new talent with complementary expertise in gene and cell therapy, helping us identify the most promising research directions and ensuring we focus on the most relevant challenges.”
Dr. Fong will complete her project in December 2025.