Weizhe Hong
Dr. Hong is a Professor of Neurobiology, Biological Chemistry, and Bioengineering at the University of California Los Angeles. His research aims to uncover the fundamental neural mechanisms underlying social behavior, with a specific focus on empathy and prosociality. Dr. Hong earned his PhD degree in 2012 from Stanford University and was a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. In 2016, he joined UCLA as an Assistant Professor, and he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020 and to Full Professor in 2023. He is also the recipient of a Young Investigator Award from the Society for Neuroscience, an Early Career Award from the Society for Social Neuroscience, a Mallinckrodt Scholar Award, a Vallee Scholar Award, a Searle Scholar Award, a Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, a McKnight Scholar Award, a Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship, and a Sloan Research Fellowship.
Websites:
Publications:
Zhang M, Wu YE, Jiang M, Hong W. Cortical regulation of helping behaviour towards others in pain. Nature. 2024 Feb; 626(7997):136-144. view on PubMed
Phi NT, Yu X, Hong W. Control of social hierarchy beyond neurons. Nat Neurosci. 2023 09; 26(9):1485-1486. view on PubMed
Lim KY, Hong W. Neural mechanisms of comforting: Prosocial touch and stress buffering. Horm Behav. 2023 07; 153:105391. view on PubMed
Wu YE, Hong W. Neural basis of prosocial behavior. Trends Neurosci. 2022 10; 45(10):749-762. view on PubMed
Wu YE, Dang J, Kingsbury L, Zhang M, Sun F, Hu RK, Hong W. Neural control of affiliative touch in prosocial interaction. Nature. 2021 11; 599(7884):262-267. view on PubMed
Hu RK, Zuo Y, Ly T, Wang J, Meera P, Wu YE, Hong W. An amygdala-to-hypothalamus circuit for social reward. Nat Neurosci. 2021 06; 24(6):831-842. view on PubMed
Kingsbury L, Hong W. A Multi-Brain Framework for Social Interaction. Trends Neurosci. 2020 09; 43(9):651-666. view on PubMed
Kingsbury L, Huang S, Raam T, Ye LS, Wei D, Hu RK, Ye L, Hong W. Cortical Representations of Conspecific Sex Shape Social Behavior. Neuron. 2020 09 09; 107(5):941-953.e7. view on PubMed
Kingsbury L, Huang S, Wang J, Gu K, Golshani P, Wu YE, Hong W. Correlated Neural Activity and Encoding of Behavior across Brains of Socially Interacting Animals. Cell. 2019 07 11; 178(2):429-446.e16. view on PubMed
Chen PB, Hu RK, Wu YE, Pan L, Huang S, Micevych PE, Hong W. Sexually Dimorphic Control of Parenting Behavior by the Medial Amygdala. Cell. 2019 02 21; 176(5):1206-1221.e18. view on PubMed
Chen P, Hong W. Neural Circuit Mechanisms of Social Behavior. Neuron. 2018 04 04; 98(1):16-30. view on PubMed
Wu YE, Pan L, Zuo Y, Li X, Hong W. Detecting Activated Cell Populations Using Single-Cell RNA-Seq. Neuron. 2017 Oct 11; 96(2):313-329.e6. view on PubMed
Hong W, Kennedy A, Burgos-Artizzu XP, Zelikowsky M, Navonne SG, Perona P, Anderson DJ. Automated measurement of mouse social behaviors using depth sensing, video tracking, and machine learning. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Sep 22; 112(38):E5351-60. view on PubMed
Ward A, Hong W, Favaloro V, Luo L. Toll receptors instruct axon and dendrite targeting and participate in synaptic partner matching in a Drosophila olfactory circuit. Neuron. 2015 Mar 04; 85(5):1013-28. view on PubMed
Hong W, Kim DW, Anderson DJ. Antagonistic control of social versus repetitive self-grooming behaviors by separable amygdala neuronal subsets. Cell. 2014 Sep 11; 158(6):1348-1361. view on PubMed
Hong W, Luo L. Genetic control of wiring specificity in the fly olfactory system. Genetics. 2014 Jan; 196(1):17-29. view on PubMed
Hong W. Science & SciLifeLab Prize. Assembly of a neural circuit. Science. 2013 Dec 06; 342(6163):1186. view on PubMed
Hong W, Wu YE, Fu X, Chang Z. Chaperone-dependent mechanisms for acid resistance in enteric bacteria. Trends Microbiol. 2012 Jul; 20(7):328-35. view on PubMed
Hong W, Mosca TJ, Luo L. Teneurins instruct synaptic partner matching in an olfactory map. Nature. 2012 Mar 18; 484(7393):201-7. view on PubMed
Mosca TJ, Hong W, Dani VS, Favaloro V, Luo L. Trans-synaptic Teneurin signalling in neuromuscular synapse organization and target choice. Nature. 2012 Mar 18; 484(7393):237-41. view on PubMed
de Wit J, Hong W, Luo L, Ghosh A. Role of leucine-rich repeat proteins in the development and function of neural circuits. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 2011; 27:697-729. view on PubMed
Hong W, Luo L. Dendritic tiling through TOR signalling. EMBO J. 2009 Dec 16; 28(24):3783-4. view on PubMed
Hong W, Zhu H, Potter CJ, Barsh G, Kurusu M, Zinn K, Luo L. Leucine-rich repeat transmembrane proteins instruct discrete dendrite targeting in an olfactory map. Nat Neurosci. 2009 Dec; 12(12):1542-50. view on PubMed
Wu YE, Hong W, Liu C, Zhang L, Chang Z. Conserved amphiphilic feature is essential for periplasmic chaperone HdeA to support acid resistance in enteric bacteria. Biochem J. 2008 Jun 01; 412(2):389-97. view on PubMed
Hong W, Jiao W, Hu J, Zhang J, Liu C, Fu X, Shen D, Xia B, Chang Z. Periplasmic protein HdeA exhibits chaperone-like activity exclusively within stomach pH range by transforming into disordered conformation. J Biol Chem. 2005 Jul 22; 280(29):27029-34. view on PubMed
