Rate My Professor Zhihong Huang

Professor Zhihong Huang is the Professor of Healthcare Engineering in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology at the University of York, where she joined in July 2024. She earned a B.Sc. degree in instrumentation and a PhD degree in mechanical engineering. Before moving to York, Huang built her academic career over more than 20 years at the University of Dundee, serving as Professor of Biomedical Engineering from 2015 to June 2024 and now holding an Honorary Professor position there. Earlier, she held a postdoctoral position at the University of Glasgow in the Division of Mechanical Engineering.

Huang's research focuses on cross-disciplinary translational work in biomedical engineering, particularly the development of medical ultrasonic technologies such as imaging, high-intensity ultrasound, and optical coherence tomography-based elastography. Her interests include utilizing acoustics and optics to investigate tissue responses, tissue characterization, interventional medical devices, and fabrication of tissue-mimicking phantoms. She examines mechanical, acoustic, thermal, and optical properties of tissues, 3D reconstruction of human anatomy and simulation, vibration analysis, robotics, and novel biomedical imaging techniques for early diagnosis, treatment, and disease management. Applications encompass ultrasound and photonics instrumentation for surgical tool design, sono- and OCT-elastography for diagnosis, and image guidance in interventions, with relevance to dermatology, ophthalmology, cancer treatment, and wound healing. Huang has published extensively, with key works including 'Predicting transcranial ultrasound insertion loss using skull CT: A deep learning approach' (Ultrasonics, 2026), 'Assessing Effects of Riboflavin/UV-A Cross-Linking on Aqueous Outflow Facility, Corneal Biomechanics and Their Association with Intraocular Pressure' (Journal of Biophotonics, 2026), and 'Determining elastic properties of skin by measuring surface waves from an impulse mechanical stimulus using phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography' (Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 2012). Her scholarship has attracted over 10,000 citations and numerous international research students with outstanding outcomes. At York, she leads efforts in the Healthcare Engineering group toward clinical translation of advanced imaging systems.