Ye Hu

Hu Ye (胡也), also known as Tony Hu, is a top biomedical scientist who left the United States in late 2025 after 22 years to become the founding dean of the new School of Biomedical Engineering at his alma mater, Tsinghua University. He gave up the prestigious Weatherhead Presidential Chair Professor position at Tulane University in New Orleans along with millions of dollars in NIH research funding.

Hu graduated from Lanzhou University in organic chemistry in 1999 and earned his PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009. He has long focused on rapid virus detection using nanomedicine technologies, holding more than 30 patents (14 authorized by American or international companies) and co-founding four biotech start-ups in the US. He served as associate editor of the ACS Nano journal.

Before his departure, Hu was an outspoken critic of NIH funding freezes and cuts. At Tsinghua, he is shifting his focus from bench research toward recruiting and developing junior faculty, building out the new school's infrastructure, and fostering industry partnerships. The proximity to his hometown and family also influenced his decision to return.