Meet the Researcher

Dr Chenyu Wang

The University of Sydney, NSW

Dr Chenyu Wang

Dr Chenyu Wang is the Senior Research Fellow at the Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, New South Wales, with a research interest primarily in imaging research for multiple sclerosis (MS).

With a background in electronics engineering, Dr Wang used to enjoy constructing various types of antennas as a hobby.

About Dr Chenyu Wang

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself
I have a background in electronics engineering and I used to enjoy constructing various types of antennas as a hobby.
What inspired you to get involved in MS research?
The passion and enthusiasm of the neurologists, radiologists, and clinical scientists with whom I work have inspired me to get involved in MS research. Their professionalism and commitment to patient care have deeply impacted me. In the MS clinics, I observed emerging needs for individuals with a quantitative analytical skillset to develop advanced engineering solutions for precision care. This also urged my sense of responsibility to contribute to the better management of MS.
What do you think has been the most exciting development in MS research?
There has been countless exciting developments in MS research in recent years. To me, the synergy of advanced MRI and AI powered quantitative imaging analysis techniques are definitely among the most amazing ones.
Tell us about your current research project
By harnessing complex, massive amounts of medical data more efficiently, Artificial Intelligence has the potential to discover new disease mechanisms, facilitate early diagnosis and optimise treatment strategy for chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis. In our team, we are leveraging the power of AI to develop comprehensive tools for MRI scan analysis that are specifically designed to uncover and measure nuanced disease progression in MS before it manifests clinically, enabling early intervention to prevent future disability. These tools will transform traditional qualitative radiology reporting with accurate, quantitative measures of disease progression. Additionally, we are engineering a system capable of interpreting AI-generated MRI analyses in the appropriate clinical context by benchmarking against not only healthy populations, but also other people with MS with a comparable disease phenotype. We aim to deploy these systems, which will support 'precision’ patient management, on a considerable scale, integrating them into both research community platforms such as the MSBase Imaging Repository (MSBIR); and, in conjunction with our industry partners, we will translate these systems into practical clinical applications.
Why is your research important and how will it influence the understanding and treatment of MS?
A heterogenous array of pathological mechanisms contribute to dynamic structural and functional disease progression in patients with MS. Pathological micro- or even macro injury to the brain does not necessarily result in clinical manifestation of the disease. Lack of robust in-vivo biomarkers that can differentiate disease progression at the neuro-axonal level limits our capacity to monitor subclinical disease progression and inform treatment sequencing algorithms prior to overt symptom progression in individual patients. Interdisciplinary collaboration in our research program will deliver an array of clinically relevant neuroimaging biomarkers that will set a benchmark for advanced imaging analytics in MS. Specifically, the work will deliver new, clinically validated AI-based biomarkers that are broadly applicable for the monitoring of subclinical disease progression; and an integrated AI-based disease prediction model. Together with existing AI-based lesion and brain atrophy metrics, this work will provide clinicians with a comprehensive suite of imaging-based tools to guide precision management strategy for individual patients with MS.
What do you enjoy most about working in the lab and what are some of the challenges you face?
I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with people from many different backgrounds on almost a daily basis, including neurologists, radiologists, pathologists, clinical scientists, imaging physicists, computer scientists and engineers. The unique expertise of these individuals often exposes many different perspectives on the same problem, which frequently results in innovative thoughts and wild ideas. The challenge is coming to an agreement and moving toward a solution, which requires effective communication between all involved.
Read More

Newsletter subscription

  • Enter your details

Chenyu Wang