Dr. Hu is currently a Professor of Anesthesiology in the Center for the Study of Itch and Sensory Disorders at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He will join Mount Sinai Health System as scientific director of the newly established Mark Lebwohl Center for Neuroinflammation and Sensation in April 2023. Dr. Hu's research has been funded by multiple NIH R01 grants focusing on gaining fundamental insights into how distinct sensory modalities are encoded in the skin and visceral organs under physiological and pathological conditions, and how sensory signals are filtered and processed in the central nervous system. Dr. Hu has published more than 110 peer-reviewed papers in many internationally recognized journals including Science, Cell, and Immunity. Dr. Hu obtained his PhD at The Ohio State University, under the supervision of Jackie D. Wood, where he investigated the structure and function of the enteric nervous system. He completed his postdoctoral training with Nobel Laureate Ardem Patapoutian at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation and the Scripps Research Institute, where he investigated the structure and function of sensory ion channels. Dr. Hu has also served on multiple NIH study sections and as an editorial board member for several journals.