Bianca Hoang-Dang

Hoang-Dang, Bianca_MDPhD Student

Current Program Year: MS1
M.D./Ph.D. Program Students, School of Medicine

Biography

Research: computational neuroscience, non-invasive deep brain stimulation, neurodegenerative memory disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders (attention/memory/autism)

Clinical: neuromodulation for memory and trauma disorders, neurology, developmental neurology

Bianca is fascinated by the brain through the lifespan, with an emphasis on how memories are created and lost in response to emotional stress events and lifestyle choices. Her interests currently include neuropsychiatry, neurodegeneration, neuroimaging, neuromodulation, with an emphasis on disorders surrounding memory, attentional, and post-traumatic disorder (PTSD).

Before beginning the MD-PhD program, Bianca studied Biology with a minor in Evolutionary Medicine at UCLA. Bianca is fascinated by the potential therapeutic effects of neuromodulation on neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions. Her work utilizing low-intensity focused ultrasound has been recognized internationally by the Organization of Human Brain Mapping's (OHBM) Annual International Meetings, where she presented as the Opening Speaker of the Neurostimulation Panel in 2020 and received OHBM's Exceptional Poster and Abstract Award in 2021. She has also worked closely with her mentors Dr. Susan Y. Bookheimer, PhD as a lead for the national Human Connectome Project for Typical Aging (HCPA) and with Dr. Ariana E. Anderson as the Director of Research, Media, and Medical Translations for the ChatterBaby AI app, which has been featured on CNN, ABC, Parents Magazine, and Wired Magazine.

Bianca began her research career as a high school intern at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) in Seattle, Washington in 2015 mentored by Dr. Beverly Torok-Storb, PhD and Dr. Cyrus M. Ghajar PhD. In 2016, Clinical Internship at Stanford School of Medicine in 2016 mentored by Drs. Sarita Khemani, MD and Eva Weinlander, MD.

Outside of medical school, Bianca loves running, ballet, filmmaking, photography, reading, poetry, playing tennis, community events, and the cello.

Names Cited under: Bianca Hoang Dang, Bianca H. Dang, BH Dang

Education and training

B.S., 2020, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Memberships and associations:

  • Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP)
  • Society for Neuroscience (SFN)
  • American Medical Association (AMA)
  • American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)
  • American Physician Scientist Association (APSA)
  • Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta Analysis Neuromodulation International Working Group (ENIGMA-NeMo)
  • Organization of Human Brain Mapping (OHBM)
  • Women in Focused Ultrasound Sonication (WI-FUS)
  • International Society for Autism Research (INSAR)
  • Oregon Medical Association (OMA)

Additional information

Honors and awards

Exceptional Abstract & Featured Poster, International Organization of Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) 21st Annual Meeting – Glasgow, Scotland
Opening Speaker & Leading Panelist – Neuromodulation Advances, International Organization of Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) Annual Meeting
UCLA Dean’s Research Prize Finalist, UCLA Undergraduate Research Week
UCLA Dean’s Honors Scholar, UCLA College of Letters and Sciences
Featured Short Film (Assistant Director), Cannes International Film Festival – Cannes, France
Atul Dhablania and Incha Kim Scholarship Recipient, Stanford Clinical Summer Internship, Stanford University School of Medicine
Better Together STEM Scholarship Recipient, Pacific Gas & Electric Company
Nordstrom National Scholarship Recipient, Norstrom, Inc.
Gates-Millennium Scholarship - National Finalist II, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
American Junior Academy of Sciences - Finalist, Washington State Academy of Sciences
Silver Award for Multimedia Research Project – Student BioExpo, Northwest Association for Biomedical Research (NWABR)

Publications

Selected publications

Hoang-Dang B, Halavi SE, Rotstein NM, Spivak NM, Rosenberg BM, Hiller S, Swenson A, Cvijanovic L, Becerra S, Dang NH, Sun M, Kronemyer D, Berlow R, Revett MR, Suthana N, Monti MM,  Bookheimer SY & Kuhn TP. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Targeting the Amygdala May Increase Psychophysiological & Subjective Negative Emotional Reactivity in Healthy Older Adults. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science. PMID: 39092138.

Kuhn, T., Indahlastari, A., Vila-Rodriguez, F., Fonzo, G., Petersen, N., Rotstein, N., Mehler, D. M. A., Repple, J., Hahn, T., Bertazzoli, G., Reggente, N., Woods, A., Halavi, S., Dang, B. H., Mason, X., Laidi, C., Chou, T., Bortoletto, M., Kallioniemi, E., Bugue I, Balderston NL, Porges E, Oaths D, Subramanian VR, Thomopoulos SI, Jahanshad N, and Thompson, P. (2024). The ENIGMA Neuromodulation Working Group: Goals, Challenges, and Opportunities for the Field. PsyArXiv; 2024. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/cuxkz. PsyArXiv, 18 Mar. 2024. PMID:

Kuhn TP, Dang BH*, Spivak NM*, Becerra S, Halavi SE, Rotstein NM, Rosenberg BM, Hiller S, Swenson A, Cvijanovic L, Dang NH, Sun M, Kronemyer D, Berlow R, Revett MR, Suthana N, Monti MM, & Bookheimer SY. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Selectively Increases Perfusion and Modulates Functional Connectivity of Deep Brain Regions in Humans. Frontiers Neural Circuits. 05 April 2023. doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2023.1120410. PMID: 37091318.

Połczyńska MM, Ding B, Dang BH, Cavanagh L. Prior neurosurgery decreases fMRI estimates of language laterality in patients with gliomas within anterior language sites. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2021, 10, x. 10.3390/jcm10071491 . PMID: 31585457.

Bystritsky A, Spivak NM, Dang BH, Becerra SA, Distler MG, Jordan SE, and Kuhn TP. "Brain circuitry underlying the ABC model of anxiety." Journal of Psychiatric Research 138 (2021): 3-14. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 2021. doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.03.030. PMID: 33798786

Kuhn T, Blades R, Gottlieb L, Knudsen K, Ashdown C, Martin‐Harris L, Ghahremani D, Dang BH, Bilder RM, Bookheimer SY. Neuroanatomical differences in the memory systems of intellectual giftedness and typical development. Brain and Behavior. 2021 Nov;11(11):e2348. PMID: 34651457.

Anderson AE, Diaz-Santos M, Frei S, Dang BH, Kaur P, Lyden P, Buxton R, Douglas PK, Bilder RM, Esfandiari M, Friston KJ. Hemodynamic latency is associated with reduced intelligence across the lifespan: an fMRI DCM study of aging, cerebrovascular integrity, and cognitive ability. Wiley Brain Structure & Function. 29 May 2020, 225(6):1705-1717. DOI: 10.1007/s00429-020-02083-w.  PMID: 32474754.

Kuhn T, Becerra S, Duncan J, Spivak N, Dang BH, Habelhah B, Mahdavi KD, Mamoun M, Whitney M, Pereles FS, Bystritsky A, Jordan SE. Translating state-of-the-art brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques into clinical practice: multimodal MRI differentiates dementia subtypes in a traditional clinical setting. Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. 2021. 11: 4056-4073. DOI: 10.21037/qims-20-1355.  PMID 34476189.

Parga JJ, Lewin S, Lewis J, Montoya-Williams D, Alwan A, Shaul B, Han C, Bookheimer SY, Eyer S, Dapretto M, Zeltzer L, Dunlap L, Nookala U, Sun D, Dang BH, Anderson AE. Defining and distinguishing infant behavioral states using acoustic cry analysis: is colic painful? Nature Pediatric Research. 2020 Feb; 87(3):576-580. doi: 10.1038/s41390-019-0592-4. Epub 2019 Oct 4. PMID: 31585457; PMCID: PMC7033040.

Kuhn T, Jin Y, Huang C, Kim Y, Nir TM, Gullett JM, Jones JD, Sayegh P, Chung C, Dang BH, Singer EJ, Shattuck DW, Jahanshad N, Bookheimer SY, Hinkin CH, Zhu H, Thompson PM, Thames AD. The joint effect of aging and HIV infection on microstructure of white matter bundles. Version 2. Wiley Human Brain Mapping. 2019 Oct 15;40(15):4370-4380. doi: 10.1002/hbm.24708. Epub 2019 Jul 4. PMID: 31271489; PMCID: PMC6865715.