TCCI 2023 Summer Newsletter



	中文

Dear Friends,

Happy summer! We are very happy to share with you an overview of the many things that have been happening at TCCI over the last few months.

As you can see below, we have been hiring AI scientists to work on new programs being developed to support the use of AI to accelerate scientific research. You will also see two new recently announced partnerships – one with the French Neuroscience Society and the other with the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).

Finally, we wanted to congratulate David Van Valen and Rebecca Vorhees, both TCCI-affiliated assistant professors of biology at Caltech, for being selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to the inaugural class of Freeman Hrabowski Scholars.

As always, thank you for your interest in and support of TCCI.

Warmly,

Tianqiao Chen Chrissy Luo

News

Tianqiao & Chrissy Chen Institute Is Hiring AI Scientists Globally

Over the last few months, TCCI has been recruiting outstanding global talent in computer science, artificial intelligence, mathematics and especially AI scientists and natural language processing engineers with large-scale language model experience. These recruits will work on new projects and help to inform emerging programs that will support the application of AI in neuroscience.

TCCI Forms New Partnership with The French Neuroscience Society

In partnership with the French Neuroscience Society, this year, the Chen Institute supported three PhD awards for outstanding PhD works in neuroscience and two travel awards for young foreign researchers to attend NeuroFrance, the French Neuroscience Society’s meeting. The partnership fosters young researchers career development and helps disseminate knowledge within the community.

Chen Institute Partners with ISSCR to Establish Fellowship for Stem Cell Reports Early Career Editorial Board

TCCI was happy to announce a new partnership with the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), establishing a fellowship program that supports members of the Stem Cell Reports Early Career Editorial Board. The program facilitates attendance at the ISSCR Annual Meeting, mentoring opportunities, and the development of programs to cultivate and deepen leadership skills.

RECOGNITION

Two TCCI for Neuroscience Affiliated Biologists at Caltech Named Freeman Hrabowski Scholars by the HHMI

Congratulations to David Van Valen, and Rebecca Vorhees, both assistant professors of biology and biological engineering and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigators at Caltech, for being selected by HHMI to the inaugural class of Freeman Hrabowski Scholars, a program which recognizes early career faculty in science who “have potential to become leaders in their fields and to create diverse and inclusive lab environments.”

Three TCCI Scholars Rank Highly as 2023 Best Neuroscience Scientists by Research.com

The 2023 ranking of the world’s top scientists was recently released by Research.com, one of the world’s leading academic research portals. For Neuroscience in China, over 27,400 scientists were considered. Amongst them are three TCCI scholars including Prof. Gerwin Schalk, the Director of the Chen Frontier Lab (ranked 23rd); Prof. Dezhong Yao from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (24th) and Professor Zhi-Li Huang from Fudan University (59th).

SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY

We believe in the power of bringing in the scientific community together and supporting scientific meetings around the world. Listed below are meetings we supported over the last few months. You can learn more about past and future meetings here.

June 18th - 22nd

The IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision And Pattern Recognition 2023

June 6th - 9th

10th Annual International BCI Meeting

June 6th

Chen Frontier Lab Satellite Meeting: Neurotech for Mass Populations

May 24th - 26th

NeuroFrance 2023

May 11th - 12th

The NeuroPSI-Chen Institute Joint Conference On Brain, Behavior & Beyond

MEETING REPORTS

The Chen Science Writer Fellowship aims to extend the value of science meetings and conferences by summarizing the conversation, highlighting key themes and promoting innovative research presentations in meeting reports. You can see all meeting reports here.

AI for Brain Science - Data Generation Methods for AI Models and Implications for the Medical Field

AI for Brain Science - Will AI Have Anxiety?

USC-Chen Institute Frontiers Forum on “Sensation and Motivation”

BACLIF April 2023 Meeting

RESEARCH

A Motor Association Area in the Depths Of The Central Sulcus

The precentral gyrus in the brain controls voluntary motor movement by sending signals to the body's muscles. Recent research by the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Frontier Lab for Neurotechnology and the Mayo Clinic, has discovered that the brain's electrical responses during movement spread out in three dimensions within the precentral gyrus, expanding its map-like organization. This finding suggests that the brain's coordination of movement is more complex than previously believed.

A New Mechanism for Crossing the Blood–Brain Barrier

Caltech researchers have discovered a new mechanism by which certain viral vectors can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), opening up possibilities for designing viral vectors for research and therapeutic applications. This insight may also help in understanding how pathogens exploit the BBB and enable the development of methods to block them.

No Magic Number for Time It Takes to Form Habits

Putting on your workout clothes and getting to the gym can feel like a slog at first. Eventually, though, you might get in the habit of going to the gym, attending classes or running on the treadmill. A new study from social scientists at Caltech now shows how long it takes to form the gym habit: an average of about six months. The same study looked at how long it takes health care workers to get in the habit of washing their hands: an average of a few weeks.

Proving the Feasibility of Passive Functional Mapping in the Receptive Language Cortex during General Anesthesia

Dr. Gerwin Schalk, Director of the Chen Frontier lab for Applied Neurotechnology, was part of a team of researchers who were investigating the feasibility of passive functional mapping in the receptive language cortex during general anesthesia using electrocorticographic (ECoG) signals. The paper, entitled, “Passive functional mapping of receptive language cortex during general anesthesia using electrocorticography” was published in the March 2023 edition of the journal Clinical Neurophysiology.

TCCI Investigator Tifei Yuan Discovers the Potential Benefits of Propofol for Depression Patients

A research paper published in the journal Neuron by ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai Mental Health Center, and Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital reveals that propofol, a drug used in general anesthesia, has anti-anhedonia effects by inhibiting the dopamine transporter. This discovery sheds light on propofol's potential role in treating depression.