Professional Experiences

MRI Physicist

Jan.2023 - present
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, United Kingdom
  • Providing significant support and direction for the R&D activities of the Imaging Physics Group and within the Trust, translating research and innovation to the clinical environment
  • Assisting the development of clinical MRI services, optimising MRI protocols, assisting the procurement, evaluation, and planning of new MRI installations
  • Performing MRI quality assurance procedures, supporting the Trust Lead MR Safety Expert in providing advice and training for healthcare professionals

Visiting Researcher

Aug.2022 - Sept.2022
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Cardiff, United Kingdom
  • Gained skills in advanced diffusion MRI techniques, data acquisition for axon caliber and myelin estimation, and application of machine learning techniques
  • Met colleagues from the Schools of Engineering, Computer Science and Informatics, and Psychology to discuss collaboration opportunities for grants and fellowships
  • Participated in group discussion on research abstracts, attended the British and Irish Chapter of the ISMRM annual meeting to learn about the latest research activities

Research Fellow in Advanced Neuroimaging

Sept.2020 - Sept.2022
University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, United Kingdom
  • Collected,processed,andanalysedMRIdataatSouthamptonGeneralHospital,andsupervised undergraduate and postgraduate students on research activities
  • Tooktheleadonmanagementofstudy-specificsoftwareandresearchdataacrosstheUniversity and Hospital
  • Wrote and submitted grants for research funding, prepared research data for publications, and submitted abstracts to international conferences

Graduate Research Assistant

Aug.2016 - Aug.2020
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.A.
  • Operated 3T GE MRI scanner to collect neuroimaging data, and trained junior graduate students to become primary operators
  • Processed and analysed data collected by Purdue Neurotrauma Group, performed neuroimag- ing database maintenance, and supervised research work of junior graduate students
  • Prepared research data for publication and grant proposal, and submitted abstracts for international conferences to present the findings for community

Staff Research Associate

Oct.2015 - July.2016
Northern California Institute for Research and Education, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
  • Performed neuroimaging database maintenance and data analysis of different substance using populations at San Francisco VA Medical Center
  • Prepared research data for publications; wrote and published peer-reviewed manuscripts
  • Tested, troubleshooted, and streamlined pipelines for image processing and analysis

Graduate Research Assistant

Jun.2015 - Aug.2015
University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
  • Bullet Point

Oct.2015 - July.2016
  • Learned neuroimaging data processing, statistical analysis, and machine learning techniques at San Francisco VA Medical Center
  • Familiarized with in-house image processing pipelines, FSL toolbox, and R statistics software
  • Investigatedmicrostructuralintegrityofbrainwhitematterwithintreatment-seekingalcoholics through retrospective analysis of diffusion and structural MRI datasets

Research Assistant

Apr.2014 - Aug.2014
Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
  • Collaborated on research projects in molecular neurosciences and biomedical engineering
  • Trained undergraduate students and summer interns
  • Performed laboratory maintenance and management

Summer Undergraduate Research Assistant

May.2010 - July.2010
Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
  • Engaged in research at a molecular and cell biology laboratory under Summer Undergraduates Research Fellowship (SURF)
  • Learned culturing Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cell for research work
  • Evaluated the effects of ginsenosides on cytotoxicity and cell migration

Publications

A full list of my publications may be accessed as a PDF file.

  • Development of brain atlases for early-to-middle adolescent collision-sport athletes
  • Yukai Zou, Wenbin Zhu, Ho-Ching Yang, Ikbeom Jang, Nicole L. Vike, Diana O. Svaldi, Trey E. Shenk, Victoria N. Poole, Gregory G. Tamer, Jr,, Larry J. Leverenz, Ulrike Dydak, Eric A. Nauman, Yunjie Tong, Thomas M. Talavage, Joseph V. Rispoli
    Scientific Reports (2021), 11: 6440
  • Cortical and Subcortical Contributions to Predicting Intelligence using 3D ConvNets
  • Yukai Zou, Ikbeom Jang, Timothy G. Reese, Jinxia Yao, Wenbin Zhu, Joseph V. Rispoli
    Chapter 21 in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 11791: Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Neurocognitive Prediction, Kilian M. Pohl, Wesley K. Thompson, Ehsan Adeli, Marius George Linguraru, eds., Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2019
  • Every Hit Matters: White Matter Diffusivity Changes in High School Football Athletes Are Correlated with Repetitive Head Acceleration Event Exposure
  • Ikbeom Jang, Il Yong Chun, Jared R. Brosch, Sumra Bari, Yukai Zou, Brain R. Cummiskey, Taylor A. Lee, Roy J. Lycke, Victoria N. Poole, Trey E. Shenk, Diana O. Svaldi, Gregory G. Tamer, Jr., Ulrike Dydak, Larry J. Leverenz, Eric A. Nauman, Thomas M. Talavage
    Neuroimage: Clinical (1961), 24: 101930
  • White matter microstructural correlates of relapse in alcohol dependence
  • Yukai Zou, Donna E. Murray, Timothy C. Durazzo, Thomas P. Schmidt, Troy A. Murray, Dieter J. Meyerhoff
    Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging (2018), 281: 92-100
  • Effects of abstinence and chronic cigarette smoking on white matter microstructure in alcohol dependence: diffusion tensor imaging at 4 Tesla
  • Yukai Zou, Donna E. Murray, Timothy C. Durazzo, Thomas P. Schmidt, Troy A. Murray, Dieter J. Meyerhoff
    Drug and Alcohol Dependence (2017), 175: 42-50
  • Investigating dynamic structural and mechanical changes of neuroblastoma cells associated with glutamate-mediated neurodegeneration
  • Yuqiang Fang, Catherine Y. Y. Iu, Cathy N. P. Lui, Yukai Zou, Carmen K. M. Fung, Hung Wing Li, Ning Xi, Ken K. L. Yung and King W. C. Lai
    Scientific Reports (2014), 4: 7074
  • Protective effects of Sapindus mukorossi Gaertn against fatty liver disease induced by high fat diet in rats
  • Qiuxian Peng, Qin Zhang, Wei Xiao, Meng Shao, Qin Fan, Hongwei Zhang, Yukai Zou, Xin Li, Wenxue Xu, Zhixian Mo, Hongbing Cai
    Biochem Biophys Res Commun (2014), 450: 685-691