Neuron Signaling in Metabolic Regulation

Dr. Qingchun Tong received his B.S. in Biology from Anhui Normal University in China in1996, and M.S. in Physiology from Shanghai Institute of Physiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1999. He then moved to US and obtained his PhD in Neural and Behavioral Sciences from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in 2003. He expanded his PhD studies during his postdoc training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School during 2003-2009, where he used mouse genetics to study hypothalamic neurocircuits in metabolism and feeding behaviors related to obesity and diabetes. In 2009, he was recruited to the Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM) of University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and has remained as a faculty member ever since. Dr. Tong is currently Professor and Cullen Chair in Molecular Medicine at IMM of McGovern Medical School of UTHealth. He is also an adjunct faculty member of Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy of McGovern Medical School and the Endocrine Division of Department of Medicine at Baylor College Medicine. Dr. Tong’s research focuses on brain control of feeding behaviors and metabolism. The current obesity epidemic and its associated metabolic syndrome have imposed unprecedented challenges to society and medicine, but with no apparent effective therapeutics. His research goal is to understand the fundamental mechanistic insights on key driving causes for defective feeding and body weight regulation, therefore providing conceptual and effective targets for prevention and treatment of eating disorders, obesity and its associated diabetes. Toward this goal, he employs animal models in combination with state-of-the-art techniques including electrophysiology, optogenetics, chemogenetics, neuronal tracing and in vivo live imaging to dissect key functional neurocircuits in the regulation of feeding, body weight and glucose homeostasis. Dr. Tong has published over 70 peer-reviewed research articles and is frequently invited as a speaker at national and international conferences. He currently serves as active manuscript reviewers for numerous academic journals and an editorial board member of Molecular Metabolism and Obesity Medicine.