Salk Institute scientist Sreekanth Chalasani is now at the center of a new, federally funded attempt to turn sonogenetics - using ultrasound to switch cells on and off - into a potential noninvasive therapy. The program pairs engineered, ultrasound-sensitive proteins with wearable ultrasound delivery to control specific cells at specific times and locations inside the body. Project leaders say the approach could eventually target conditions such as peripheral neuropathy, but they are quick to note that years of preclinical testing and safety work still stand between the lab and any real-world treatment.
According to ARPA-H, the agency awarded up to $41.3 million on Feb. 23, 2026, naming The Salk Institute the prime awardee and Sreekanth Chalasani the principal investigator for the San Diego program. The ARPA-H listing places the project in its Health Science Futures portfolio and describes sonogenetics as a potential non-pharmaceutical way to treat chronic conditions. Federal officials framed the award as fuel for a translational push that moves the work from basic discovery toward clinical proof-of-concept.
The academic news and company rollout hit at the same time. SonoNeu, a spin-out tied to the Salk Institute, issued a press release saying it will coordinate translation and quoted Chalasani describing the effort as a platform that pairs engineered ultrasound-sensitive proteins with wearable ultrasound technology. The SonoNeu announcement, distributed via GlobeNewswire, says the company will receive part of the ARPA-H funds to shepherd regulatory and commercialization planning. The release also lists peripheral neuropathy as an early, clinically relevant target for the program.
What is sonogenetics?
Sonogenetics makes target cells responsive to low-intensity ultrasound by getting them to express mechanosensitive proteins that open in response to specific sound frequencies. When those proteins open, ions flow, changing how the cells behave. The idea was first demonstrated in nematode worms, where introducing a pore-forming protein enabled neurons to respond to ultrasound pulses, as reported in Nature Communications. Later work in mammalian systems has started to map how ultrasound triggers calcium influx and downstream electrical effects, giving researchers a mechanistic roadmap for turning the concept into a therapeutic strategy.
Who’s on the team and what they'll do
The Salk news release lays out a multi-site consortium that includes Scripps Research (with Nobel laureate Ardem Patapoutian), University of Manitoba, Duke University, MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, UC San Diego, and the California Medical Innovations Institute (Calmi2), with each group assigned discovery, delivery or validation roles. Scripps will help discover and engineer ultrasound-sensitive proteins, Duke will work on targeted delivery vectors, MIT will develop wearable delivery systems, and UC San Diego will validate efficacy in mammalian models. The collaborative structure is designed to push sonogenetics from bench experiments toward the regulatory evidence needed for early trials.
Start-up tie and local spin-out
The SonoNeu announcement describes the company as a Salk spin-out co-founded with General Inception and says it will coordinate research across sites while receiving up to $5.2 million as part of the ARPA-H package. The company casts itself as the bridge between academic labs and the clinic, responsible for IND planning and regulatory interactions. That commercial vehicle could accelerate translation if the teams can demonstrate reliable, safe gene-delivery and device solutions.
Timeline and next steps
The Salk announcement says the award will support roughly five and a half years of work to build a toolkit of engineered proteins, delivery vectors and wearable ultrasound devices, and project leaders hope that will position the teams to pursue early human proof-of-concept within a multiyear horizon. ARPA-H’s listing confirms the agency’s backing of the translational effort and names Salk as the prime awardee for the San Diego program. Researchers caution that milestones for safe and selective gene delivery, dosing and off-target effects will determine whether and when human testing can move forward.
Promise and hurdles
Laboratory studies show that ultrasound often activates calcium-permeable mechanosensitive channels, setting off intracellular cascades that can excite or modulate cells; engineered variants or other channel types could, in principle, allow inhibitory control as well. But experts say the biggest challenges are practical. The work has to address how to deliver engineered proteins or gene vectors to the intended cells, avoid immune reactions, and demonstrate long-term safety in animals before moving to people. The scientific literature is encouraging on the mechanism, but turning that promise into a repeatable clinical tool will require years of careful work and independent confirmation.
For San Diego, the award highlights the region’s role in translational neuroscience and bioengineering and plants another federally backed program amid a dense local cluster that includes Salk, Scripps and UC San Diego. Even if clinical uses remain years away, the funding represents a sizable bet that, in time, clinicians might use sound - not scalpels or drugs - to control cells inside the body.
