Lab Members

Project Scientists

Zhaoyang Fan, PhD
Project Scientist
Zhaoyang.Fan@cshs.org
(310) 248-8661
Dr. Fan received his BS in Engineering Physics from Tsinghua University, his MS in Medical Physics from McMaster University and his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. His dissertation was focused on technological developments in non-contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of peripheral artery lumen and wall, under the direction of Prof. Debiao Li. His current research interest is in using MRI to investigate atherosclerotic plaques in major arterial vessels such as coronary and carotid arteries. Dr. Fan also serves as Technical Director of the 3-Tesla MRI system in the Research Imaging Core.   

Behzad Sharif, PhD
Project Scientist
Behzad.Sharif@cshs.org
(310) 423-7758
Dr. Sharif received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where his doctoral research, supervised by Prof. Yoram Bresler, was focused on patient-adaptive fast dynamic MRI and auto-calibrating parallel MR imaging. His overall research interest are in the area of developing highly accelerated and accurate MR imaging techniques with applications in clinical, translational, or interventional imaging research. He is particularly interested in exploring approaches that integrate novel MR data acquisition processes with advanced image reconstruction and analysis techniques.

Graduate Students

David Chen
Graduate Student
David.Chen@cshs.org
(310) 248-8668
David graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. He is currently a PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering program at Northwestern University, and joined Dr. Li's lab in 2009 because of the unique challenges posed by, and the potential application of Cardiac MRI. His current research interests lies in quantifying myocardial blood flow using MR perfusion imaging.

Zixin Deng
Graduate Student
Zixin.Deng@cshs.org
Zixin received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, with a specialization in Biophotonics. She is currently a PhD student at the University of California, Los Angeles studying Bioengineering / Biomedical signals and image processing subfield. Her current research interest is in Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Qi Liu
Graduate Student
Qi.Liu@cshs.org
(310) 248-8665
Prior to entering the Biomedical Engineering PhD program at Northwestern University, Qi obtained his Bachelor of Science in Physics from Peking University, China, where his research focused on brain diffusion imaging. After joining Dr.Li's lab, he investigated techniques in vessel wall imaging and intervertebral disc imaging. Currently he is working on non-invasive detection of lower back pain using MRI.

Chris Nguyen
Graduate Student
Christopher.Nguyen@cshs.org
(310) 248-8675
Chris completed his undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering, focusing on applying diffusion MRI in the brain. He continued that research for one year as a Staff Research Associate at University of California, San Francisco in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging before pursuing his PhD at UCLA in Biomedical Engineering. His current research interests include extracranial applications of diffusion MRI namely in the kidneys, prostate, liver, and heart.

Jianing Pang
Graduate Student
Jianing.Pang@cshs.org
(310) 248-8671
Jianing received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Peking University and subsequently joined the Li Lab while pursuing his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. His current effort is to develop a high resolution, fast and robust coronary magnetic resonance imaging technique that is also user friendly and clinically feasible. In his spare time Jianing enjoys pedaling up the hills in the LA area.

Jaime Shaw
Graduate Student
Jaime.Shaw@cshs.org
Jaime received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University. After taking a year off to teach children basic reading skills with AmeriCorps, Jaime worked as a Research Assistant with the Cardiac MR Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Jaime is currently a PhD student in Bioengineering at UCLA and her research interests include cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.

Yibin Xie
Graduate Student
Yibin.Xie@cshs.org
(310) 248-8674
Yibin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Zhejiang University and then completed his Master’s of Science in the Biomedical Engineering program at Johns Hopkins University, where he developed methods for imaging stem cells using MRI to treat vascular diseases. He is currently a PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering program UCLA. Yibin’s current research interests include vascular imaging and hyperpolarized MRI.

Zhengwei Jenny Zhou
Graduate Student
Zhengwei.Zhou@cshs.org
Zhengwei completed her undergraduate at Tsinghua University with a Bachelor's of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering, where she mainly focuses on fast MRI imaging. She is currently a PhD student in the Bioengineering program at UCLA. print button
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