Qingchun Tong

Dr. Qingchun Tong is a Professor and the Cullen Chair in Molecular Medicine at the Department of Integrative Molecular and Biomedical Sciences (IMM) of McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). He serves as Associate Director of the IMM-Center for Neuroimmunology and Glial Biology and holds adjunct faculty positions in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy of McGovern Medical School and the Endocrine division of the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Tong received his B.S. in Biology from Anhui Normal University of China in 1996, followed by an M.S. in Physiology from the Shanghai Institute of Physiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1999. He then moved to the United States, earning his PhD in Neural and Behavioral Sciences from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in 2003. His postdoctoral training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School (2003-2009) focused on hypothalamic neurocircuits and feeding behaviors related to obesity and diabetes using extensive mouse genetics. He was recruited to IMM of UTHealth in 2009, where he has remained as faculty ever since.

Dr. Tong's research program tackles the obesity epidemic by elucidating mechanisms behind defective feeding and body weight regulation. His laboratory employs animal models with advanced techniques including electrophysiology, optogenetics, chemogenetics, in vivo imaging, Cre-loxP/Flp-Frt genetics, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis, and single-cell RNA sequencing. A major research direction investigates how neurons and glial cells interact to maintain energy and behavioral homeostasis under normal and metabolically challenged conditions. His ongoing projects explore novel neural pathways for feeding regulation, brain efferent pathways controlling peripheral metabolism, brain mechanisms mediating blood hormone action, chronic stress effects on obesity, and glial contributions to metabolic diseases.

Analysis of Dr. Tong's recent publications (2021-2023) reveals a strong interdisciplinary focus spanning neuroscience, metabolism, and immunology. His work demonstrates how neural circuits, particularly involving the melanocortin system and AgRP neurons, regulate energy homeostasis, with expanding research into neuroimmunology examining TREM2 and microglial functions in metabolic regulation. This research has significant implications for understanding and potentially treating obesity and related metabolic disorders.

• Hans J. Muller-Eberhard, MD, PhD and Irma Gigli, MD Distinguished Chair in Immunology
• Cullen Chair in Molecular Medicine

As principal investigator of an active research laboratory, Dr. Tong mentors postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and research assistants. His lab maintains strong collaborative networks with researchers at UTHealth, Baylor College of Medicine, and other institutions. The Tong Laboratory actively recruits motivated undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows, providing substantial research funding to support innovative approaches to understanding obesity and metabolic disorders through cutting-edge techniques including viral vector-based tracing and neural circuit mapping.

Dr. Tong leads the Center for Neuroimmunology and Glial Biology at IMM, where his team employs comprehensive approaches to study neural regulation of metabolism. His lab website (http://www.tong-laboratory.com/) details ongoing research and opportunities for prospective members interested in tackling obesity and related metabolic disorders through fundamental neuroscience research.