Wang will receive the James B. Eads Award, which recognizes a distinguished individual for outstanding achievement in engineering or technology.

Wang and his lab were the founders of a type of medical imaging that gives physicians a new look at the body’s internal organs, publishing the first paper on the technique in 2003. Called functional photoacoustic tomography, the technique relies on light and sound to create detailed, color pictures of tumors deep inside the body and may eventually help doctors diagnose cancer earlier than is now possible and to more precisely monitor the effects of cancer treatment — all without the radiation involved in X-rays and CT scans or the expense of MRIs.
A leading researcher on new methods of cancer imaging, Wang has received more than 30 research grants as the principal investigator with a cumulative budget of more than $40 million. In 2013, Wang received a Transformative Research Award from the National Institutes of Health.

The Academy of Science of St. Louis aims to foster the advancement of science and encouragement of public interest in and understanding of the sciences. The awards will be given April 9 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel