Cheng Huang

Cheng Huang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He joined the department in February 2023 and leads the Huang Lab, which focuses on studying dopamine in learning and movement with long-term voltage imaging in flies. His research integrates advanced imaging techniques with behavioral neuroscience to understand fundamental neural mechanisms.

Dr. Huang's research interests include:

• Neural mechanisms of learning and memory
• Dopamine signaling in neural circuits
• In vivo voltage imaging techniques
• Drosophila neurobiology
• Memory dynamics and integration of innate/learned information
• Development of cost-effective neural imaging systems

His lab has pioneered cost-effective voltage imaging systems (approximately $50k) using primarily Thorlabs components, making advanced neural imaging more accessible. Recent work has focused on how dopamine regulates interactions between short-term and long-term memory, published in Nature in 2024 after two years of revision. His research program examines predictive learning in Drosophila using novel voltage and dopamine imaging approaches.

Dr. Huang's research has been recognized with the Whitehall Foundation Award for work on predictive learning in Drosophila.

• Whitehall Foundation Award for research on predictive learning in Drosophila with novel voltage and dopamine imaging

Dr. Huang is actively recruiting PhD students and has established his laboratory in the brand-new Neuroscience Research Building at Washington University. His work bridges advanced imaging techniques with behavioral analysis to decipher how fruit flies learn and make decisions, with implications for understanding fundamental neural processes relevant to higher organisms.