Welcome to my personal page

I’m a neuroscientist working at the interface of neurotechnology and neurobiology. I apply advanced optical imaging methods to study the dynamics of neuronal signals in the brain to understand the principles of neuronal functions, physiology, and behaviors.

I’m now a postdoctoral research fellow at Salk Institute in San Diego. For my current research, I use fast and quantitative fluorescence lifetime imaging of voltage multiplexed with other brain signals to study the neural dynamics in visual circuits.

I have a Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Medicine degree from Peking University.

I enjoy playing basketball, phyotography, and spending time with my partner Zoe and cat Saki when I’m not in the lab.

News

• 2026.06: New preprint from the lab: Phasor EO-FLIM: Lifetime imaging with picosecond noise and 500 Hz frame rate by Linghao Hu, Pingchuan Ma, Vaibhav Menon, Athira Sethu Madhavan, Kenta Asahina, Lena M Müller, and Adam J Bowman.
• 2026.05: I was awarded the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind (KIBM) Postdoctoral Scholar Award!
• 2025.11: SfN poster presentation titled ‘A theoretical framework for optical multiplexing of neuronal signals’.
• 2025.06: I was awarded the Salk Pioneer Award for my study on building a optical platform for multiplexed imaging of neuronal signals!
• 2025.05: I attended the PhD hooding ceremony!
• 2025.01: A panel session titled ‘Shining A Light On Neuroscience: New Frontiers with Fluorescent Protein-Based Sensors’ were jointly presented by Jacob, Jason, Maribel, and me at the 2025 Winter Conference on Brain Research!
• 2025.01: I started working at Salk! Very exciting!
• 2024.11: Paper published in eLife: The promise and peril of comparing fluorescence lifetime in biology revealed by simulations.
• 2024.09: I defended my thesis titled ‘Studying the dynamics of neuromodulators in the brain by fluorescence lifetime imaging’!
• 2024.02: Paper published in Science Advances: Fast and slow: Recording neuromodulator dynamics across both transient and chronic time scales.

Selected Publications

• Ma, P., Chen, P., Tilden, E. I., Aggarwal, S., Oldenborg, A., & Chen, Y. (2024). Fast and slow: Recording neuromodulator dynamics across both transient and chronic time scales. Science Advances, 10(8), eadi0643.
• Ma, P., Sternson, S., & Chen, Y. (2024). The promise and peril of comparing fluorescence lifetime in biology revealed by simulations. eLife, 13.
• Ma, P., Mo, R., Liao, H., Qiu, C., Wu, G., Yang, C., … & Song, X. J. (2022). Gut microbiota depletion by antibiotics ameliorates somatic neuropathic pain induced by nerve injury, chemotherapy, and diabetes in mice. Journal of neuroinflammation, 19(1), 169.
• Ma, P., Chen, P., Zhou, Z. L., Mo, R. F., Wu, M., & Song, X. J. (2020). Activation of EphB receptors contributes to primary sensory neuron excitability by facilitating Ca2+ influx directly or through Src kinase-mediated N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor phosphorylation. Pain, 161(7), 1584-1596.

For more info

Contact me at mapingchuan93atgmail.com for more information.