Biography:

Tongtong Wang, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist specializing in systems neuroscience and brain–body communication. She earned her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 2026 under the mentorship of Professor Yuki Oka, following a B.S. in Biological Science from Nankai University in 2020. Her research investigates how neural circuits sense internal bodily states and coordinate behavior and organ functions to maintain physiological balance. Her work has examined thirst, sodium consumption, taste valence, gut osmolality, and the organization of the autonomic nervous system. She has published research in leading journals including Nature, Cell, and Nature Reviews Neuroscience. In 2026, she received Caltech’s Lawrence L. and Audrey W. Ferguson Prize for the most outstanding doctoral thesis in Biology and Biological Engineering
I obtained my Ph.D. in Neurobiology at Caltech under Yuki Oka in 2026 and was awarded the Lawrence L. and Audrey W. Ferguson Prize for the best doctoral thesis in Biology and Biological Engineering. I combine experimental and computational tools to understand how the brain and body work together to guide behaviors and orchestrate physiology. My goal is to uncover how distinct neural circuits coordinate behaviors and organ functions to meet internal needs and adapt to environmental challenges. By bridging systems neuroscience and physiology, my work aims to illuminate the molecular and cellular principles for brain-body communication.