Electrical & computer engineering professor wins NSF CAREER award to expand brain imaging research

A professor in The Grainger College of Engineering is receiving national recognition for advancing brain imaging to better understand brain disorders.

Yun-Sheng Chen, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is leading a team of postdoctoral researchers and seven graduate students on the project. Together, they developed brain imaging technology that combines photoacoustic and ultrasound localization methods to provide a clearer look at the brain. The technique enables real-time, high-resolution visualization of cerebral blood flow and oxygenation in awake animals.

“In my lab, we are developing a multiparametric imaging tool,” Chen said. “It is created by interleaving photoacoustic imaging, which uses light to trigger ultrasound, and ultrasound localization, which provides super-resolution imaging.”

Chen explained that the team is focused on brain vasculature because of its close connection to brain function. “When brain disorders such as autism or depression alter brain function, the first changes often appear in the vasculature,” he said. “Vasculature is the highway that supplies oxygen and nutrients to the brain, which consumes about 20% of our energy, despite being only 2% of body weight. Any disruption in brain function can impact that supply, or vice versa.”

“The need for this technology became clear after reviewing past efforts in medical imaging,” Chen said. “No single technique can capture all the parameters we want at the resolution needed. That’s why we took a dual-modality approach. This is the first time these two methods have been seamlessly combined, allowing us to generate real-time, high-resolution images of blood flow, volume, and oxygenation in the animal brains.”

This novel imaging platform offers an unprecedented window into the brain’s vascular behavior, paving the way for earlier detection and a deeper understanding of how vascular function is linked to brain disorders. “What makes our technique powerful,” Chen added, “is its ability to noninvasively and repeatedly image multiple vascular parameters in the awake brain over time. This gives us broader and more precise insight into how these disorders affect brain function, particularly vascular dynamics.”

In addition to advancing brain imaging, Chen’s lab is mentoring the next generation of researchers. In partnership with Campus Middle School for Girls, the group will lead outreach initiatives to broaden participation in science. These efforts include a summer camp focused on imaging science for middle school students, interactive demonstrations for K-12 audiences, and hands-on research opportunities for undergraduates, especially those without prior lab experience.

“We will be able to train a group of students who understand how to develop imaging techniques from scratch,” Chen said. “By the end of this five-year project, my group will have built a culture of innovation that fosters the creation of new imaging methods.”

Chen received a National Science Foundation CAREER award to support this work. He said the funding is an honor because it allows his team to advance their research and expand its applications.

“This means a lot to our group,” Chen said. “With this support, we can continue developing this technique and build the infrastructure for entirely new imaging technologies. Beyond the brain, this approach can also be applied to study the kidney and detect tumors.”

Yun-Sheng Chen is an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. He is a faculty member of the Beckman Institute and the Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory and an affiliate of the Department of Bioengineering and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.