Tao Sun
Assistant Professor,
Bioengineering
Office
- 206C ISEC
Research Focus
Focused Ultrasound, Immunoengineering, Immunomodulation, Ultrasound Imaging, Neuroimaging, Drug Delivery, Gliomblastoma, Alzheimer’s Disease
About
Dr. Tao Sun is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and a core faculty member of the Institute for Chemical Imaging of Living Systems (CILS) at Northeastern University. He joined Northeastern in 2023 following postdoctoral training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (Bioengineering), where he later served as an Instructor at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Sun is widely recognized for his pioneering work at the intersection of focused ultrasound, drug delivery, cancer immunoengineering, and neuroimaging. He is the recipient of several prestigious honors and awards, including the NIH NIGMS R35 Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA), the Young Investigator Award from the Focused Ultrasound Foundation (2022), and the Acoustical Society of America (2021). His interdisciplinary research has been published in leading journals such as PNAS, Science Translational Medicine, Advanced Materials, Journal of Controlled Release, Applied Physics Letters, and Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. His work has also been featured in major science and technology outlets, including WIRED, Science Daily, and Medical Xpress.
Education
- Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Tufts University
- M.S., Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University
- B.S., Acoustics, Nanjing University
Honors & Awards
- NIH NIGMS Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA), 2025
- Young Investigator Award, Focused Ultrasound Foundation, 2022
- Young Investigator Award, Acoustical Society of America, 2021
Teaching Interests
BIOE 5235 – Biomedical Imaging
BIOE 5800 – Systems, Signals, and Controls for Bioengineers
Leadership Positions
- Associate Editor – Frontiers of Acoustics
Professional Affiliations
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) – Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society
- International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound (ISTU)
- Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
- The Acoustical Society of America (ASA)
Research Overview
Focused Ultrasound, Immunoengineering, Immunomodulation, Ultrasound Imaging, Neuroimaging, Drug Delivery, Gliomblastoma, Alzheimer’s Disease
The Sun Ultrasound and Neuroengineering (SUN) Lab
The Sun Ultrasound and Neuroengineering (SUN) Lab works at the intersection of focused ultrasound (FUS), neuroimaging and immunoengineering with expertise in developing ultrasound devices, imaging methods and engineered cell systems to modulate the neuro-immune interface and their applications in immunomodulation, drug delivery, and cell-based theranostic systems.
The goal of his research program is to unveil how FUS modulates the neuroimmune disease/aging environment and to develop ultrasound-based techniques for treating and monitoring neurological disorders, such as glioblastoma and Alzheimer’s disease, and beyond.
Selected Research Projects
- Probing inflammation dynamics via multi-modal tracking and control of engineered macrophages
- – Principal Investigator, NIH
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- Acoustic Cavitation Control and Imaging Techniques for Ultrasound Therapy
- Caso N, Patel K, Sun T, “Passive Acoustic Dynamic Differentiation and Mapping (PADAM): A Time-Domain Passive Cavitation Localization and Classification Approach,”
- Sun T, Zhang Y, Power C, Alexander P, Sutton J, Aryal M, Vykhodtseva N, Miller E, McDannold N, “Closed-loop control of targeted ultrasound drug delivery across the blood-brain/tumor barriers in a rat glioma model,’’ PNAS, 114(48): E10281-E10290 (2017) PMCID: PMC5715774
- Sun T, Sutton J, Power C, Zhang Y, Miller E, McDannold N, “Transcranial cavitation-mediated ultrasound therapy at sub-MHz frequency via temporal interference modulation,” Applied Physics Letters, 111(16): 163701 (2017)
- Sun, T, et al. “Acoustic cavitation-based monitoring of the reversibility and permeability of ultrasound-induced blood-brain barrier opening.” Phys Med Biol. 23 (2015): 9079. PMCID: PMC4668271
- Sun, T, et al. “Ambient pressure dependence of the ultra-harmonic response from contrast microbubbles.” J Acoust Soc Am. 6 (2012): 4358-4364. PMID: 22712910
2. Ultrasound-Responsive Cell-Drug Conjugates Engineering
- Dasgupta A#, Sun T#, Palomba R, …, McDannold N, Mitragotri S, and Lammers T, “Nonspherical ultrasound microbubbles,” PNAS, 120(13): e2218847120 (2023) (# denotes equal contributions)
- Sun T#, Krishnan V#, Zhang Y, Power C, Kim J, Ravid S, Pan D, Aydin SA, Karp J, McDannold N, Mitragotri S, “Ultrasound‐mediated delivery of flexibility‐tunable polymer drug conjugates for treating glioblastoma,” Bioengineering & Translational Medicine, e10408, (2022) (# denotes equal contributions)
- Dasgupta, A., Sun, T., et al. “Transferrin Receptor‐Targeted Nonspherical Microbubbles for Blood–Brain Barrier Sonopermeation.” Adv Mater. 52 (2023): 2308150. PMCID: PMC11238272
- Wang, LL, et al. “Preclinical characterization of macrophage-adhering gadolinium micropatches for MRI contrast after traumatic brain injury in pigs.” Sci Transl Med.728 (2024): eadk5413. PMID: 38170792
3. Ultrasound Immunomodulation at the Neuro-Immune Interface
- Sun T, Shi Q, Zhang Y, Power C, Hoesch C, Antonelli S, Schroeder M, Caldarone B, Taudte N, Schenk M, Hettmann T, Schilling S, McDannold N, Lemere C, “Focused ultrasound with anti-pGlu3 Aβ enhances efficacy in Alzheimer’s disease-like mice via recruitment of peripheral immune cells,” Journal of Controlled Release, 336: 443-456 (2021)PMCID: PMC8373822
- Sun T, Dasgupta A, Zhao Z, Nurunnabi M, Mitragotri S, “Physical triggering strategies for drug delivery,” Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 158: 36-62 (2020) PMID: 32589905
- Aly, A., Sun, T, et al. “Focused ultrasound enhances transgene expression of intranasal hGDNF DNA nanoparticles in the sonicated brain regions.” J Control Release.358 (2023): 498-509. PMID: 37127076
Aug 14, 2025
PADAM: A New Passive Imaging Algorithm Enabling Safer, More Precise Control for Focused Ultrasound Therapy
BioE Assistant Professor Tao Sun and his team have developed Passive Acoustic Dynamic Differentiation and Mapping (PADAM), a breakthrough in passive cavitation imaging that provides sharper localization and real-time classification of bubble activity during focused ultrasound (FUS) therapies.
Aug 07, 2025
NIH MIRA R35 Award to Advance Living Cellular Probes for Ultrasound Imaging and Immunomodulation Technologies
BioE Assistant Professor Tao Sun was awarded a $1.99 million NIH R35 Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) to develop ultrasound-controllable, multimodal imaging cellular probes and complementary ultrasound imaging technologies, enabling real-time tracking and modulation of inflammation dynamics and advancing precision medicine across a range of diseases.
May 29, 2025
Pursuing a Career as a Bioengineering Researcher One Step at a Time
Through a range of experiential learning opportunities and project-based coursework, Poulami Mondal, MS’23, PhD’28, bioengineering, not only earned her master’s degree but also found her career path and is continuing her studies for a PhD.
Aug 09, 2023
Overcoming Barriers to Brain Drug Delivery With Focused Ultrasound
BioE Assistant Professor Tao Sun is exploring the use of ultrasound and tiny bubbles to deliver drugs to the brain more effectively, potentially aiding in treating conditions like Alzheimer’s and brain cancer. Results of his research were published in the journal PNAS.
Apr 05, 2023
Nonspherical Ultrasound Microbubbles
Bioengineering Assistant Professor Tao Sun recently published his postdoctoral research from John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Brigham and Women’s Hospital on “Nonspherical Ultrasound Microbubbles,” in PNAS.
Dec 20, 2022
New Faculty Spotlight: Tao Sun
Tao Sun joins the Bioengineering department in January 2023 as an Assistant Professor.