Stephanie Chee-Yee Tjen-A-Looi
Project Scientist VI, Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine
Biography
Stephanie Chee-Yee Tjen-A-Looi, Ph.D., is Project Scientist VI in the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute and the Department of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. A researcher in cardiovascular neurophysiology and acupuncture mechanisms, Tjen-A-Looi has focused on understanding how electroacupuncture modulates blood pressure and autonomic nervous system function through central and peripheral neural pathways. She received a Ph.D. in Animal Health and Biomedical Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1994.
Tjen-A-Looi has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on multiple federal and foundation grants, including an NCCIH grant examining neuroimmune mechanisms underlying electroacupuncture effects on vascular function and several grants from the A. Coors Foundation investigating electroacupuncture for hypertension. She holds a patent for methods and systems for treating hypertension using energy-stimulated acupuncture applied to specific acupoint combinations. Her research has demonstrated that electroacupuncture produces sustained reductions in blood pressure through actions on brain regions including the rostral ventrolateral medulla, paraventricular nucleus, and periaqueductal gray, involving neurotransmitter systems such as opioids, GABA, and endocannabinoids.
Tjen-A-Looi received the Society for Acupuncture Research Outstanding Senior Researcher Award in 2025. She has served as a reviewer for grant proposals at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Health Bureau of Hong Kong, and as an editorial board member for multiple journals including Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience and the Journal of Acupuncture and Traditional Medicine. She has mentored numerous undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers at UC Irvine and has been an invited speaker at international conferences in South Korea, China, Japan, and Canada.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D. in Animal Health and Biomedical Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1994
- M.S. in Veterinary Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1991
- B.S. in Nutrition Science, University of California, Davis, 1987
Distinctions
- Society for Acupuncture Research, Outstanding Senior Researcher Award, 2025
- Post-doctoral NIH Fellowship Award, 1994-1998
- Proctor and Gamble Graduate Student Award, American Physiology Society, 1994
- Poster Award, International Scientific Acupuncture and Meridian Symposium, 2011
- UCI, Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute Pilot Program award (co-awardee), 2022-2023
- Sigma XI COM the most innovative topic poster award, 2002
- Faculty Career Advancement, University of California, Irvine, 1998-1999
- Department of Health and Biomedical Science Student Award, 1993
Areas of Expertise
- Cardiovascular Autonomic Regulation
- Electroacupuncture Sympathetic Modulation
- Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla Mechanisms
- Opioid Receptor Neurotransmission
- Hypertension Blood Pressure Control
- Neuroinflammation Microglia Activation
- Alpha-7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors
Recent Publications
- Gong, Y.D., Fu, L-W., Nguyen, A.T., Guo, Z-L., Malik, S., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., “Combined electroacupuncture attenuates inflammation and hypertension in salt-sensitive rats through α-7nicotinic acetylcholine receptors” (opens in new tab), Physiology, vol. 40, no. S1, 2025.
- Gong, Y.D., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Guo, Z-L., Malik, S., Fu, L-W., “Electrical stimulation of somatosensory nerves alleviates neuroinflammation and hypertension potentially by reducing M1-microglia in the rostral ventral lateral medulla” (opens in new tab), Physiology, vol. 40, no. S1, 2025.
- Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Gong, Y.D., Malik, S., “Does electroacupuncture reducing heart rate rebalance autonomic nervous system?” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 131, no. 5, pp. 945-947, 2024.
- Tsai, J., Malik, S., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., “Pulmonary Hypertension: Pharmacological and Non-pharmacological Treatment” (opens in new tab), Life, vol. 14, no. 10, pp. 1265, 2024.
- Tran, R.M.N., Malik, S., Reist, C., Oh, C.K., Abdul-Musawir, N., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Fu, L-W, Baird, T.J., Nguyen, A.T., Gong, Y.D., Guo, Z-L , “Stellate Ganglion Blockade under Ultrasound-Guidance and the Physiological Responses in the Rat ” (opens in new tab), Front. Physiol. Sec. Autonomic Neuroscience , vol. 15, 2024.
- Guo, Z., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Nguyen, A.T., Fu, L-W., Su, H-F., Gong, Y.D., Malik, S., “Adenosine A2A receptors in the rostral ventrolateral medulla participate in blood pressure decreased with electroacupuncture in hypertensive rats” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol. 10, pp. 1275952, 2023.
- Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Gong, Y.D., Fu, L-W., Guo, Z-L., Nguyen, A.T., Malik, S., “Central autonomic nervous system balanced by electroacupuncture in hypertension” (opens in new tab), Physiology, vol. 38, no. S1, 2023.
- Gong, Y.D., Fu, L-W., Nguyen, A.T., Guo, Z-L., Malik, S., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., “Alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors contribute to the combined electroacupuncture modulation of hypertension in salt-sensitive rats” (opens in new tab), Physiology, vol. 38, no. S1, 2023.
- Tjen-A-Looi, S. C., Fu, L., Guo, Z., Gong, Y., Nguyen, A., Nguyen, A-T., Malik, S., “Neurogenic Hypotension and Bradycardia Modulated by Electroacupuncture in Hypothalamic Paraventricular Nucleus” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Neuroscience, vol. 16, pp. 1-13, 2022.
- Xie, L., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Fu, L-W., Nguyen, L., Nadeswaran, B., Malik, S., “Blood pressure lowering effect of electro-acupuncture in middle-aged and elderly patients with mild to moderate hypertension: Does inflammation play a role?” (opens in new tab), FASEB Journal, vol. 36, no. S1, 2022.
- Guo, Z-L., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Su, H-F., Fu, L-W., Malik, S., “Contribution of Adenosine A2A Receptors in the Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla to Acupuncture Modulation of Hypertension” (opens in new tab), FASEB Journal, vol. 36, no. S1, 2022.
- Gong, Y., Fu, L-W., Malik, S., Guo, Z-L., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., “Electroacupuncture decreases chronic inflammation, sympathetic activities, and blood pressure in dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive rats” (opens in new tab), FASEB Journal, vol. 36, no. S1, 2022.
Most Cited Publications
- Longhurst, J.C., Tjen-A-Looi, S., Fu, L-W., “Cardiac sympathetic afferent activation provoked by myocardial ischemia and reperfusion: Mechanisms and reflexes” (opens in new tab), Neuro-Cardiovascular Regulation: From Molecule to Man. The New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 940, pp. 74-95, 2001.
- Zhou, W., Fu, L., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Li, P., Longhurst, J.C., “Afferent Mechanisms Underlying Stimulation Modality-Related Modulation of Acupuncture-Related Cardiovascular Responses” (opens in new tab), Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 98, no. 3, pp. 872-880, 2005.
- Li, P., Tjen-A-Looi, S., Longhurst, J., “Rostral ventrolateral medullary opioid receptor subtypes in the inhibitory effect of electroacupuncture on reflex autonomic response in cats” (opens in new tab), Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical, vol. 89, pp. 38-47, 2001.
- Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Li, P., Longhurst, J.C., “Medullary substrate and differential cardiovascular response during stimulation of specific acupoints” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Physiology Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology, vol. 287, pp. R852-R862, 2004.
- Li, P., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Longhurst, J.C., “Excitatory projections from arcuate nucleus to ventrolateral to periaqueductal gray in electroacupuncture inhibition of cardiovascular reflexes” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Physiology, Heart and Circulatory Physiology, vol. 209, pp. H2523-H2542, 2006.
- Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Li, P., Longhurst, J.C., “Midbrain vlPAG inhibits rVLM in cardiovascular sympathoexcitatory responses during electroacupuncture” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Physiology, Heart and Circulatory Physiology, vol. 209, pp. H2543-H2553, 2006.
- Li, P., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Guo, Zhi-Ling, Fu, Liang-Wu, Longhurst, J.C., “Long-Loop Pathways in Cardiovascular Electroacupuncture Responses” (opens in new tab), Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 106, no. 2, pp. 620-30, 2009.
- Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Li, P., Longhurst, J.C., “Prolonged Inhibition of Rostral Ventral Lateral Medullary Premotor Sympathetic Neurons by Electroacupuncture” (opens in new tab), Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical, vol. 453, no. 2, pp. 119-131, 2003.
- Li, P., Rowshan, K., Crisostomo, M., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Longhurst, J.C., “Effect of electroacupuncture on pressor reflex during gastric distention” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Physiology Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology, vol. 283, pp. R1335-R1345, 2002.
- Li, P., Tjen-A-Looi, S.C., Cheng, L., Liu, D., Painovich, J., Vinjamury, S., Longhurst, J.C., “Long-lasting reduction of blood pressure by electroacupuncture in patients with hypertension: randomized controlled trial” (opens in new tab), Medical Acupuncture, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 253-266, 2015.
Contact Information
Website: https://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5153
Email: stjenalo@uci.edu
Address: 856 Medical Science, Irvine, CA 92617
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Last updated on 4/9/2026.