Wu Lab
Our lab's research is focused on the development and translation of new technologies for Quantitative MRI-Guided Therapy, which includes detection/characterization, treatment planning, interventional guidance, and treatment monitoring of cancer and metabolic diseases.
Research Directions and Specific Projects
Quantitative Prostate MRI
- Quantitative T2 and ADC mapping in prostate cancer
- High-resolution diffusion-weighted MRI
- Microstructural MRI
- Integrated diagnostics for prostate cancer (collaboration with Urology and Pathology)
Quantitative Liver and Abdominal MRI
- Free-breathing quantitative MRI of liver fat fraction and R2*
- MRI and MRE of pediatric liver disease (collaboration with Pediatrics)
- Artificial intelligence for body composition analysis
Quantitative Placenta MRI
- Free-breathing quantitative MRI of placental R2* (collaboration with Pediatrics and Ob/Gyn)
MRI-Guided Interventions
- Real-time non-Cartesian MRI
- Real-time MR temperature mapping
- MRI-guided targeted biopsy and focal ablation
- Artificial intelligence for procedural guidance
- MRI-compatible robotic systems (collaboration with MAC lab)
- Precision MRI-guided nano-theranostics (collaboration with Zink lab)
News
National Cancer Institute Award - UCLA Newsroom | The Cancer Letter
UCLA Innovation Fund Therapeutics Award - UCLA Newsroom
Lab Members
Faculty
Holden H. Wu, Ph.D.
Project Scientists
Shu-Fu Shih, Ph.D. (jointly supervised with Dr. Xiaodong Zhong)
Graduate Students
Qing Dai, M.S.
Timoteo Delgado-Esbenshade, B.A.
Wenqi Zhou, M.S.
Elif Aygun, M.S.
Wenwen Zhang, M.S.
Administrative Staff
Heather Wilbur
Stephanie Peterson
Previous Members
Tess Armstrong, Ph.D. (Ph.D. student and postdoc, 2013-2019; subsequently at ViewRay)
Isabel Dregely, Ph.D. (postdoc, 2013-2015; subsequently at King's College London)
Novena Rangwala, Ph.D. (postdoc, 2013-2016, jointly advised with Dr. Kyung Sung; subsequently at GE Healthcare)
Samantha Mikaiel, M.S. (graduate student, 2014-2018; subsequently at Vanguard)
Xinzhou Li, Ph.D. (Ph.D. student and postdoc, 2015-2022; subsequently at Siemens Healthineers)
Le Zhang, Ph.D. (postdoc, 2017-2020, subsequently at Mayo Clinic)
Nyasha Maforo, Ph.D. (Ph.D. student, 2018-2022, jointly advised with Dr. Dan Ennis; subsequently at University of Pennsylvania)
Zhaohuan Zhang, Ph.D. (Ph.D. student, 2016-2023)
Ashmita Deb, M.S. (graduate student, 2022-2023; subsequently at Cleveland Clinic)
Sevgi Kafali, Ph.D. (Ph.D. student, 2018-2024; subsequently at Technical University Munich)
M. Wasil Wahi-Anwar, B.S. (graduate student, 2014)
Matthew Quesada (undergraduate student, Fall 2014)
Chengyang Song, B.S. (visiting graduate student, Fall 2015)
Tongxin Chen (visiting undergraduate student, Summer 2016)
Yu Wang (visiting undergraduate student, Summer 2017)
Cass Wong, B.S. (undergraduate student, 2017)
Michael Lauria, B.S. (lab rotation, Fall 2017)
Chang Gao, B.S. (lab rotation, Fall 2017)
Arash Safavi, M.S. (staff research associate, 2017-2018)
Benjamin Azul, B.S. (staff research associate, 2018-2019)
Jacob Story, B.S. (medical student, 2020-2022)
Kelsey Kuwahara, B.S. (undergraduate student, 2020-2022)
Hannah Parish, B.S. (medical student, 2021-2022)
Alexandra Artura, B.S. (undergraduate student, 2021-2022)
Tristan Kelly, B.S. (undergraduate student, 2021-2023)
Ryan Andosca, M.S. (lab rotation, Spring 2022)
Jiaqi Zhou (remote undergraduate student, Summer 2022)
Justin Kaufman (undergraduate student, 2022-2023)
We are looking for new postdocs and graduate students!
Honors and Awards
2024 ISMRM Summa Cum Laude Award - Qing Dai, Wenqi Zhou
2024 ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Award - Elif Aygun
2023 ISMRM Summa Cum Laude Award - Shu-Fu Shih, Qing Dai
2023 ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Award - Timoteo Delgado
2022 ISMRM Summa Cum Laude Award - Shu-Fu Shih
2022 ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Award - Sevgi Kafali
2021 ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Award - Jacob Story, Zhaohuan Zhang, Xinzhou Li
2020 ISMRM Summa Cum Laude Award - Zhaohuan Zhang
2020 ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Award - Le Zhang, Shu-Fu Shih, Sevgi Kafali
2019 ISMRM W. S. Moore Young Investigator Award Finalist - Tess Armstrong | info
2019 ISMRM Summa Cum Laude Award - Xinzhou Li
2019 ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Award - Tess Armstrong
2018 UCLA PBM Dr. Moses A. Greenfield Award - Tess Armstrong
2018 ISMRM Summa Cum Laude Award - Tess Armstrong
2018 ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Award - Tess Armstrong
2017 RSNA Trainee Research Prize - Tess Armstrong | info
2017 UCLA PBM Research Colloquium Best Oral Presentation Award - Samantha Mikaiel
2017 ISMRM Summa Cum Laude Award - Tess Armstrong
2016 UCLA Grad Slam Finalist - Samantha Mikaiel | info and video
2016 ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Award - Tess Armstrong
2015 ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Award - Tess Armstrong
2015-2018, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship - Samantha Mikaiel
2012-2018, MRM Distinguished Reviewer - Holden Wu
[OA] = Open Access
Shih S-F, Tasdelen B, Yagiz E, Zhang Z, Zhong X, Cui SX, Nayak KS, Wu HH. Improved Liver Fat and R2* Quantification at 0.55T using Locally Low-Rank Denoising. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2024. [OA] Code.
Kafali SG, Bolster Jr. BD, Shih S-F, Delgado TI, Deshpande V, Zhong X, Adamos TR, Ghahremani S, Calkins KL, Wu HH. Self-Gated Radial Free-Breathing Liver MR Elastography: Assessment of Technical Performance in Children at 3T. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2024. [OA] Also see the Editorial.
Shih S-F, Wu HH. Free-Breathing MRI Techniques for Fat and R2* Quantification in the Liver. Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine 2024. PDF.
Zhou W, Li X, Zabihollahy F, Lu DS, Wu HH. Deep Learning-Based Automatic Pipeline for 3D Needle Localization on Intra-Procedural 3D MRI. International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery 2024. [OA]
Zhang Z, Aygun E, Shih S-F, Raman SS, Sung K, Wu HH. High-Resolution Prostate Diffusion MRI using Eddy Current-Nulled Convex Optimized Diffusion Encoding and Random Matrix Theory-Based Denoising. Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine 2024. PDF.
Kafali SG, Shih S-F, Li X, Kelly T, Chowdhury S, Loong S, Moretz J, Barnes S, Li Z, Wu HH. Automated Abdominal Adipose Tissue Segmentation and Volume Quantification on Longitudinal MRI using 3D Convolutional Neural Networks with Multi-Contrast Inputs. Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine 2024. [OA] Code.
Shih S-F, Kafali SG, Calkins KL, Wu HH. Uncertainty-Aware Physics-Driven Deep Learning Network for Free-Breathing Liver Fat and R2* Quantification using Self-Gated Stack-of-Radial MRI. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2023. Code.
Strobel K, Kafali SG, Shih S-F, Artura AM, Masamed R, Elashoff D, Wu HH, Calkins KL. Pregnancies Complicated by Gestational Diabetes and Fetal Growth Restriction: An Analysis of Maternal and Fetal Body Composition Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Third Trimester. Journal of Perinatology 2022. PDF.
Story JD, Ghahremani S, Kafali SG, Shih S-F, Kuwahara K, Calkins KL, Wu HH. Using Free-Breathing MRI to Quantify Pancreatic Fat and Investigate Spatial Heterogeneity in Children. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2022.
Kafali SG, Armstrong T, Shih S-F, Holtrop JL, Venick RS, Ghahremani S, Bolster Jr. BD, Hillenbrand CM, Calkins KL, Wu HH. Free-Breathing Radial Magnetic Resonance Elastography of the Liver in Children at 3T: A Pilot Study. Pediatric Radiology 2022. [OA]
Li X, Lee Y, Lu DS, Tsao TC, Wu HH. Physics-Driven Mask R-CNN for Physical Needle Localization in MRI-Guided Percutaneous Interventions. IEEE Access 2021. [OA]
Armstrong T†, Zhong X†, Shih S-F, Felker ER, Lu DS, Dale BM, Wu HH. Free-Breathing 3D Stack-of-Radial MRI Quantification of Liver Fat and R2* in Adults with Fatty Liver Disease. Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2022. († equal contribution) [OA]
Kafali SG, Shih S-F, Li X, Chowdhury S, Loong S, Barnes S, Li Z, Wu HH. 3D Neural Networks for Visceral and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Segmentation using Volumetric Multi-Contrast MRI. 43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) 2021. [OA]
Deng T†, Zhang L†, Li X, Zink JI*, Wu HH*. Responsive Nanoparticles to Enable a Focused Ultrasound-Stimulated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Spotlight. American Chemical Society (ACS) Nano 2021. († equal contribution; * corresponding authors)
Shih S-F, Kafali SG, Armstrong T, Zhong X, Calkins KL, Wu HH. Deep Learning-Based Parameter Mapping with Uncertainty Estimation for Fat Quantification using Accelerated Free-Breathing Radial MRI. IEEE 18th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI) 2021.
Cheng C, Chen W, Zhang L, Wu HH*, Zink JI*. Magnetic Resonance Imaging of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound-Stimulated Drug Release from a Self-Reporting Core@Shell Nanoparticle Platform. Chemical Communications 2020. (* corresponding authors)
Li X, Young AS, Raman SS, Lu DS, Lee Y, Tsao TC, Wu HH. Automatic Needle Tracking using Mask R-CNN for MRI-Guided Percutaneous Interventions. International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery 2020. PDF.
Zhong X, Hu HH, Armstrong T, Li X, Lee Y, Tsao TC, Nickel MD, Kannengiesser SAR, Dale BM, Deshpande V, Kiefer B, Wu HH. Free-Breathing Volumetric Liver R2* and Proton-Density Fat Fraction Quantification in Pediatric Patients Using Stack-of-Radial MRI with Self-Gating Motion Compensation. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2020. Also see the Editorial.
Lee Y, Li X, Simonelli J, Lu D, Wu HH, Tsao TC. Adaptive Tracking Control of One-Dimensional Respiration Induced Moving Targets by Real-Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging Feedback. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics 2020.
Zhang Z, Wu HH*, Priester A, Magyar C, Afshari Mirak S, Shakeri S, Mohammadian Bajgiran A, Hosseiny M, Azadikhah A, Sung K, Reiter RE, Sisk AE, Raman S, Enzmann DR. Prostate Microstructure in Prostate Cancer using 3T MRI with Diffusion-Relaxation Correlation Spectrum Imaging: Validation with Whole-Mount Digital Histopathology. Radiology 2020. (* corresponding author) Also see the Editorial.
Kafali SG, Shih S-F, Ruan D, Wu HH. Adaptive Locally Low Rank and Sparsity Constrained Reconstruction for Accelerated Dynamic MRI. IEEE 17th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI) 2020.
Li X†, Perotti LE†, Martinez JA, Duarte-Vogel SM, Ennis DB, Wu HH. Real-Time 3T MRI-Guided Cardiovascular Catheterization in a Porcine Model using a Glass-Fiber Epoxy-Based Guidewire. PLoS ONE 2020. († equal contribution) [OA]
Simonelli J, Lee Y, Chen C, Li X, Mikaiel S, Lu D, Wu HH, Tsao TC. Hydrostatic Actuation for Remote Operations in MR Environment. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics 2020.
Cheng C†, Chen W†, Zhang L, Wu HH*, Zink JI*. A Responsive Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle Platform for Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound-Stimulated Cargo Delivery with Controllable Location, Time, and Dose. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2019. († equal contribution; * corresponding authors)
Zhong X†, Armstrong T†, Nickel MD, Kannengiesser SAR, Pan L, Dale BM, Deshpande V, Kiefer B, Wu HH. Effect of Respiratory Motion on Free-Breathing Three-Dimensional Stack-of-Radial Liver R2* Relaxometry and Improved Quantification Accuracy using Self-Gating. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2020. († equal contribution)
Li X, Lee Y, Mikaiel S, Simonelli J, Tsao TC, Wu HH. Respiratory Motion Prediction using Fusion-Based Multi-Rate Kalman Filtering and Real-Time Golden-Angle Radial MRI. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 2020.
Mikaiel S, Simonelli J, Li X, Lee Y, Lee YS, Sung K, Lu D, Tsao TC, Wu HH. MRI-Guided Targeted Needle Placement During Motion using Hydrostatic Actuators. The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery 2020.
Zhang Z, Moulin KF, Aliotta E, Shakeri S, Afshari Mirak S, Hosseiny M, Raman S, Ennis DB, Wu HH. Prostate Diffusion MRI with Minimal Echo Time using Eddy Current Nulled Convex Optimized Diffusion Encoding. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2019.
Deng T‡, Zhang L‡, Wu HH*, Zink JI*. A Nanoparticle Enabled Focused Ultrasound-Stimulated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Spotlight. Chemical Communications 2019. (‡ equal contribution; * corresponding authors)
Zhang L, Armstrong T, Li X, Wu HH. A Variable Flip Angle Golden‐Angle‐Ordered 3D Stack‐of‐Radial MRI Technique for Simultaneous Proton Resonant Frequency Shift and T1‐Based Thermometry. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2019.
Armstrong T, Ly KV, Ghahremani S, Calkins KL, Wu HH. Free-Breathing 3-D Quantification of Infant Body Composition and Hepatic Fat using a Stack-of-Radial Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technique. Pediatric Radiology 2019. PDF.
Armstrong T, Liu D, Martin T, Masamed R, Janzen C, Wong C, Chanlaw T, Devaskar SU, Sung K, Wu HH. 3D R2* Mapping of the Placenta During Early Gestation Using Free-Breathing Multiecho Stack-of-Radial MRI at 3T. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2019. (2019 ISMRM W. S. Moore Award Finalist)
Wu HH, Priester A, Khoshnoodi P, Zhang Z, Shakeri S, Afshari Mirak S, Asvadi NH, Ahuja P, Sung K, Natarajan S, Sisk A, Reiter R, Raman S, Enzmann D. A System Using Patient-Specific 3D-Printed Molds to Spatially Align In Vivo MRI with Ex Vivo MRI and Whole-Mount Histopathology for Prostate Cancer Research. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2019. Prostate mold resources.
Armstrong T, Ly KV, Murthy S, Ghahremani S, Kim GHJ, Calkins KL, Wu HH. Free-Breathing Quantification of Hepatic Fat in Healthy and NAFLD Children Using a Multiecho 3D Stack-of-Radial MRI Technique. Pediatric Radiology 2018. PDF.
Armstrong T, Dregely I, Stemmer A, Han F, Natsuaki Y, Sung K, Wu HH. Free-Breathing Liver Fat Quantification using a Multiecho 3D Stack-of-Radial Technique. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2018.
Simonelli J, Lee Y, Mikaiel S, Chen C, Li X, Sung K, Lu D, Wu HH, Tsao TC. An MR-Compatible Stage for Respiratory Motion Emulation. International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) PapersOnLine 2017.
Rangwala N, Dregely I, Wu HH, Sung K. Optimization and Evaluation of Reference Region Variable Flip Angle (RR-VFA) B1+ and T1 Mapping in the Prostate at 3T. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2017.
Dregely I, Margolis D, Sung K, Zhou Z, Rangwala N, Raman S, Wu HH. Rapid Quantitative T2 Mapping of the Prostate using 3D DESS MRI at 3 T. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2016.