UCL-CNT Early Career Investigator Award in Neuroimaging Techniques 2022 presented to Dr. Yichao Yu

by Stefanie Rudrich (Brain Products Head of Marketing)

On July 6, 2023, the “UCL-CNT Early Career Investigator Award in Neuroimaging Techniques 2022” was presented to Dr. Yichao Yu of CABI (Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging) at UCL (University College London).

Yichao received the award at the UCL’s Center for Neuroimaging Techniques (UCL-CNT) “Annual Lecture on EEG”. This year’s in invited speaker was Professor Miguel Nicolelis (Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA) who discussed “Brain Machine Interfaces: From Basic Science to Neuroprostheses and Neurological Recover” in his talk.

UCL-CNT Early Career Investigator Award in Neuroimaging Techniques 2022 presented to Dr. Yichao Yu

From left to right: Mark Lythgoe (director of CABI), Yichao Yu (2022 CNT Early Career Award winner), Louis Lemieux (Chair of the UCL-CNT), Miguel Nicolelis (2022 UCL-CNT EEG Lecturer) and Mario Bartolo (Managing Director of Brain Products UK).

Initiated in 2007, this annual award aims to acknowledge an exceptional contribution by a UCL student or staff member in the early stages of their career in the field of Neuroimaging. Brain Products GmbH and Brain Products UK are proud to sponsor the award, which includes a trophy, a cheque for £1000 and a certificate – signed by the President and Provost of UCL, Professor Michael Spence as well as Prof. Louis Lemieux (chair of the UCL-CNT).

This year’s winner, Dr. Yichao Yu, has been a valued member of CABI at UCL since 2011. He received the 2022 award for his achievements in the field of magnetomechanical stimulation (MMS). In particular, Yichao developed a method that makes it possible to selectively control astrocytes using an MRI scanner.

About Dr. Yichao Yu

(Excerpt from the nomination statement by Professor Mark Lythgoe)

… The main focus of Yichao’s work has been the development of a novel neuromodulation technology called magnetomechanical stimulation (MMS), which enables remote and selective control of astrocytes using an MRI scanner. Yichao independently initiated this project as a PhD student … Leveraging our MRI system and drawing on the expertise of three UCL groups, Yichao invented a method to modulate a neural network by exploiting astrocytes’ intrinsic mechanosensitivity: forces are created on astrocytes by attaching magnetic particles selectively to these cells within a target brain region followed by exposure of the head to the fringe magnetic field of an MRI scanner, leading to the activation of important astroglial signalling pathways (ATP and Ca2+). This technique distinguishes itself from prevailing methods such as optogenetics and chemogenetics by not requiring genetic modification, making it a very attractive candidate for clinical translation. Moreover, the common existence of MRI scanners in hospitals may enable its implementation with minimal hardware investment and development, adding to its translational appeal. Such therapeutic potential makes MMS a significant achievement.

Due to the project’s highly experimental nature, Yichao had to overcome numerous challenges by mastering new skills across the spectrum (computational, chemical, in vitro, surgical) and applying them creatively: he designed and built new devices; he used MRI and unsupervised image registration to ensure particle delivery accuracy; he saw the potential of the scanner fringe field and investigated it thoroughly with modelling, in vitro testing and in vivo evaluation…  This work has recently (Feb 2022) been published in Advanced Science (IF = 17), and was the first to demonstrate the in vivo feasibility of a non-genetic neuromodulation method with spatial, temporal and cell-type specificity …

On behalf of the whole Brain Products and Brain Products UK team, congratulations, Yichao, on winning this award! We will continue to follow your research and wish you all the best for your future.

Most recent articles

References

Baker, R.R., Payne, C., Yu, Y., Mohseni, M., Connell, J.J., Lin, F., Harrison, I.F., Southern, P., Rudrapatna, U.S., Stuckey, D.J., et al. (2022).
Image-Guided Magnetic Thermoseed Navigation and Tumor Ablation Using a Magnetic Resonance Imaging System.
Adv. Sci. 2105333.

Yu, Y., Payne, C., Marina, N., Korsak, A., Southern, P., García-Prieto, A., Christie, I.N., Baker, R.R., Fisher, E.M.C., Wells, J.A., et al. (2022).
Remote and Selective Control of Astrocytes by Magnetomechanical Stimulation.
Adv. Sci. 9, 2104194.