It was truly wonderful to have everyone share their knowledge, ideas, and questions in person and on the Virtual Platform as we welcomed nearly 500 attendees in Trondheim for a very special 25th Annual Celebration of ISTU at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). We had a record-setting 361 accepted abstracts, with 237 posters and 134 oral talks. Our congratulations go to Catharina de Lange Davies, Ph.D. and the Local Organizers and Scientific Committee who planned a fantastic program featuring the latest breakthroughs in the field from internationally recognized experts and pioneering researchers.

Please catch up with news about the society by watching this year's General Assembly presented by our President, Elisa E. Konofagou, Ph.D. This session also included a slideshow traveling through a fabulous celebration of 25 years with some key insights for the future and reflection on our past from many of our former presidents.

A major goal of this year’s symposium was to provide a forum for reporting clinical therapeutic ultrasound outcomes while facilitating clinician and translational scientist collaboration to advance the field of therapeutic ultrasound forward and help more patients gain the benefits of therapeutic ultrasound. Towards that goal, we extended ISTU 2026 to kick off with a full day clinical program generously sponsored by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, aimed at presenting highly relevant clinical outcomes. We were so pleased to welcome 371 attendees for that opening day!

The program this year featured plenary talks from a variety of experts in the field:

• Emily White, M.D., from Sonic Concepts, gave a “State of the Field” update on the worldwide clinical, commercial, and regulatory progress achieved to date in the focused ultrasound field, based upon the Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s annual report.
• Neal F. Kassell, M.D., Focused Ultrasound Foundation chairman, and Lauren Hadley, M.D., MBA, associate director of the Foundation’s Research and Education Team, presented “FUS Foundation Update,” to provide an overview of the organization’s recent activities.
• Jonathan Whitlock, Ph.D., from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, presented “Uncovering the Brain’s Model of the Bodily Self.”
• Natasha D. Sheybani, Ph.D. presented “Bench-to-Bedside Engineering of Precision Immunotherapy Paradigms with Focused Ultrasound.”

It's not too late! Registration is still open for access to the Virtual Platform. All session recordings are now posted to the platform and available online until December 15, 2026. View any sessions you may have missed, or watch your favorites all over again!

• Recorded video content from oral and poster poster presenters
• Posters by in-person and virtual presenters, with presentations
• Exhibition booths from all of our Sponsors

Neal F. Kassell, M.D., founder and chairman of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, received the inaugural Lifetime Impact Award, a distinction recognizing his visionary leadership and enduring contributions to advancing the field of focused ultrasound. The award honors individuals whose work has fundamentally shaped the development, adoption, and global impact of focused ultrasound, reflecting Dr. Kassell's decades-long commitment to transforming the lives of patients through ensuring continuous funding and championing of innovation and collaboration.



Neal F. Kassell, M.D.



Focused Ultrasound Foundation



Vera A. Khokhlova, Ph.D.

Lomonosov Moscow State University

University of Washington

“Nonlinear Acoustics in Therapeutic Ultrasound”

Natasha D. Sheybani, Ph.D.

UVA Focused Ultrasound Immuno-Oncology (FUSION) Center

“Controlled Chaos: Trials, Triumphs, and Lessons at the Intersection of Acoustics & Tumor Immunology”

This year’s Frederic Lizzi Early Career Award Session was brought to you by:

David Cranston D.Phil., FRCS.

Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences

University of Oxford

“30 years of HIFU from the Dreaming Spires of Oxford to the Rivers and Mists of Chongqing”

Shayan Moosa, M.D.

UVA Health

“Advancing the Frontiers of Transcranial Focused Ultrasound: AI-Guided Lesioning, Neuromodulation, and Sonodynamic Therapy”

The inaugural annual award recognizes the incredible efforts of mentors in the field, and reinforces ISTU's commitment to mentorship. We continued to host the Student Mentorship Panel, which is always a favorite.

Lawrence A. Crum, Ph.D.



Center for Industrial & Medical Ultrasound

Applied Physics Laboratory

University of Washington

“Mentorship is for Everyone”

Awards were given for Best Poster, Best Oral Presentation, and our highest level of student achievement, The Nadine Barrie Smith Award, which recognizes exemplary student achievements at the ISTU Annual Symposium. Be sure to watch this session on the Virtual Platform!

Nadine Barrie Smith Award

Thomas Sherlock

University of Virginia

“FUS BBB Opening Drives Immunostimulation and Tunable CAR-T Efficacy in Breast Cancer Brain Metastases”

Best Student Oral Award

Saachi Munot, B.S.

Stanford University, Columbia University  

“Multi-modal transcranial functional ultrasound imaging reveals spatiotemporal hemodynamics during FUS in non-human primates”  

Best Student Poster Award

Anna Soliani

ICube

“Disruption of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa bacterial biofilms using Focused Ultrasound (FUS)-induced cavitation”  

We simply could not host this symposium without their continued support of ISTU! Please visit the sponsor exhibit booths online to learn more about their companies and products. You may still request a time to meet with them on the Platform!

Save the Date for ISTU 2027!

Registration and Abstract Submissions Open February 2027