For the last four years, electrical engineering doctoral student Shutao Wang has been researching the application of a noninvasive procedure called focused ultrasound (FUS), a procedure that harnesses the heat of ultrasound waves to directly target tumors.
As a treatment, FUS would provide cancer patients with an alternative to surgery and the side effects associated with radiation and chemotherapy. Surgery at some tumor locations, like in the eye’s retina, could damage nearby tissues; however, FUS can isolate the treatment area and reduce that possibility.
Mr. Wang was recently recognized with the 2011 Chorafas Prize, a monetary award of $4,000 that acknowledges outstanding dissertation research in selected fields of engineering, computer science, medicine and the natural sciences. Mr. Wang was nominated for the award, which is awarded by the Chorafas Foundation.
“I’m very honored to get this award,” said Mr. Wang. “I think I’ve contributed my own effort to the cancer field, which is something I’m really passionate about. I really appreciate my adviser [Vesna Zderic] for her direction on the project.”
Vice President for Research Leo Chalupa and Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Planning Forrest Maltzman presented Mr. Wang with the award in a special ceremony Sept. 22.
GW Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Chair Mona Zaghloul and Dr. Zderic, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, were also on hand to congratulate Mr. Wang.
Dr. Chalupa said Mr. Wang’s award is indicative of the university’s progress in the field of biomedical research.
“I’m very proud of [Mr. Wang’s] accomplishments, and I think he’s going to do terrifically well,” said Dr. Chalupa. “The better our students do, the better our reputation is as a research university.”
Dr. Zderic said she was not at all surprised that Mr. Wang received the award.
“Shutao is just a great student —very smart, hard working and inquisitive,” she said. “He is truly interested in biomedical research and really cares about working on research problems that may lead to cure for human diseases. Working with him over the last four years was great.”
Born in Tianjin, China, Mr. Wang received his bachelor’s of science in electrical engineering at Huazhong University of Science. Previous research posts include working as a special research volunteer at the National Institutes of Health and an internship at Philips Research North America. Mr. Wang has received the Stephen Joel Trachtenberg Cooperative Education Student of the Year Award and was the winner of the 2011 PZFlex Student Innovation Competition.
Although he will soon be leaving GW— he begins a post-doctoral program at Columbia University in December— Mr. Wang said he has enjoyed his time at the university.
“GW is a very exciting place,” he said. “You’re so close to NIH, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—all these big research institutes with a lot of opportunities. The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering also has amazing faculty.”