Cha-MinTang graduated from MIT with degrees in biology and electrical engineering. He received his MD and PhD degrees in physiology from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his residency training in neurology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He moved to the University of Maryland as Professor of Neurology and Physiology after an initial faculty appointment at the University of Pennsylvania. His clinical subspecialty is in epilepsy.

Dr. Tang has diverse research interests that span fundamental neuroscience, translational research, and biomedical engineering. A common theme to his diverse fields of study is that they are guided by the development of novel tools or the application of emerging technologies that have the potential to break open the field of research. The technology he has devoted his greatest effort to revolves around the application of catheter-based optical coherence tomography (OCT) to neuroscience and vascular disorders. OCT is being developed to guide neurosurgical interventions such as DBS and drug delivery. It is also being developed to improve the outcome of CABG procedures and guide the removal of thrombus after acute stroke.