Yu-Chieh(Jill) Kao

Research Fellow

About Me

Jill (Yu-Chieh) Kao received her Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2012 from the National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan under the mentorship of Dr. Fu-Shan Jaw. Having trained as an electrophysiologist during her PhD, she has gained extensive experience in in vivo electrophysiological recording in rats. In early 2012, she joined the Department of Neurology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill as a Postdoctoral Fellow under the supervision of Drs. Ian Shih and Bill Powers, where she studied magnetic resonance imaging and stroke. In the past two and half years, she has deepened her knowledge of MRI principles and strengthened her skills in analysis of functional and structural MRI data. She also learned theoretical and clinical knowledge of brain injury, and gain increased exposure to clinical topics. Her postdoc work primarily focused on mapping cortical spreading depolarization (CSD) in various experimental animal models by using MRI. In close collaboration with Dr. Jim Faber, she also led a project to identify the effect of collateral circulations on ischemic penumbra evolution in mice. Her effort has been recognized in a form of receiving the Best Basic Science Research Award at the Biomedical Research Imaging Center and Radiology Research Day out of ~100 ongoing imaging research abstracts at UNC. She also presented her results orally at the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) and, consecutively in 2013 and 2014, received the Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude Merit Award from ISMRM and Young Investigator Travel Award from International Society for Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, respectively. Her growing knowledge and experience in her research field has also been recognized by serving as a peer-reviewer for journals. It is her long term goal to combine neuroimaging and electrophysiology to study neurovascular function in brain injuries.

Research Interests

Small animal MRI
Neurovascular function in brain injuries
Neurovascular coupling to brain stimulation
Electrophysiology
Behavioral Neuroscience

Awards

Educational Stipend, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2015

Member, Society for Neuroscience, 2014

Summa Cum Laude Merit Award, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2014

Member, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2013

Best Basic Science Research Award, Biomedical Research Imaging Center Research Day, 2013

Magna Cum Laude Merit Award, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2013

Educational Stipend, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2013

Young Investigator Travel Bursary, The International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism , 2013

Work Experience

Research Fellow, Imaging Research Center, Taipei Medical University, Taipei

December 2014 - Present

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Neurology and BRIC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

March 2012 - October 2014

Patent

1. Liao WC, Kao YC, Jaw FS, Lin CW. Analysis Device and Analyzing Methods for Autonomic Nerve State. Intellectual Property Office, Taiwan (ROC). 2012.

2. Liao WC, Kao YC, Jaw FS, Lin CW. Analysis Device and Analyzing Methods for Autonomic Nerve State. 2012.

Publications

Journal

Robust deep brain stimulation functional MRI procedures in rats and mice using an MR-compatible tungsten microwire electrode.

Lai HY, Albaugh DL, Kao YC, Younce JR, Shih YY. Magn Reson Med, 2015; 73(3), 1246-51. (Peer-reviewed article)

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Dynamic Perfusion and Diffusion MRI of Cortical Spreading Depolarization in Photothrombotic Ischemia.

Kao YC, Li W, Lai HY, Oyazabal E, Lin W, Shih YY. J Neurobiol Dis, in press.

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Imaging neurovascular function and functional recovery after stroke in the rat striatum using forepaw stimulation.

Shih YY*, Huang S, Chen YY, Lai HY, Du F, Kao YC, Hui E, Duong TQ. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab, 2014, in press.

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Functional MRI of deep brain stimulation-evoked activity in rats and mice using a novel MR-Compatible tungsten microwire electrode.

Lai HY, Albaugh DL, Kao YC, Younce JR, Shih YY. Mag Res Med, 2014, in press.

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Functional MRI reveals frequency-dependent responses during deep brain stimulation at the subthalamic nucleus or internal globus pallidus.

Lai HY, Younce JR, Albaugh DL, Kao YC, Shih YY. Neuroimage, 2013;84(1):11-18.

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Ultra high-resolution fMRI and electrophysiology of the rat primary somatosensory cortex.

Shih YY, Chen YY, Lai HY, Kao YC, Shyu BC, Duong TQ. Neuroimage, 2013;73:113-120.

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Optimal Parameters of CO2 Laser-Induced Nociception for Electrophysiological Recordings.

Kao YC, Jaw FS. J Comp Physiol A. 2012;198:79-83.

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Cerebral Columnar Organization of the First Nociceptive Component Induced by CO2 Laser on the Tail of the Rat.

Jaw FS*, Kao YC, Chen CP, Liao WL. Neuroscience 2009;158:945-950.

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High-fidelity Evoked Potential for Mapping the Rat Tail in Thalamus.

Jaw FS, Kao YC, Chen CP, Chen YY. Neuroscience 2008;155:277-282.

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International Conference

The Role of Collateral Circulation in Perfusion and Diffusion MRI after Stroke.

Kao YC, Oyarzabal EA, Zhang H, Faber JE, and Shih YY. The 22nd ISMRM. Toronto, Canada, 2015.

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Probing Gq-GPCR Signaling in Rat Primary Motor Cortex with Pharmacogenetic fMRI.

Das M, Decot KH, Kao YC, Oyarzabal EA, Shih YY. The 22nd ISMRM. Toronto, Canada, 2015.

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MRI-compatible multi-channel microelectrode array for deep brain stimulation.

Kao YC, Lai HY, Chen CC, Albaugh D, Shih YY. The 44th SfN. Washington, DC, USA, 2014.

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Can Cortical Spreading Depolarization Serve as a Marker for Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) Toxicity for Stroke Treatment?

Kao YC, Li W, Lin W, Shih YY. The 22nd ISMRM. Milan, Italy, 2014.

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Real Time Spreading Depolarization in Hyperacute Phase of Stroke Using Perfusion MRI.

Kao YC, Lai HY, Lin W, Shih YY. The 26th International Symposium on Cerebral Blood Flow, Metabolism and Function. Shanhai, China, 2013.

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Deep brain stimulation at the subthalamic nucleus and the internal globus pallidus produces fMRI response in the motor cortex.

Lai HY, Younce JR, Kao YC, Shih YY. The 26th International Symposium on Cerebral Blood Flow, Metabolism and Function. Shanhai, China, 2013.

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A Modified Photothrombotic Stroke Model Using Implantable Optic Fiber: In-Bore Stroke Induction for Probing Peri-Infarct Spreading Depolarization.

Kao YC, Lai HY, Kao C, Shih YY. The 21st ISMRM. Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 2013

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Deep Brain Stimulation fMRI in Mice.

Kao YC, Lai HY, Younce JR, Shih YY. The 21st ISMRM. Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 2013.

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Deep brain stimulation at the subthalamic nucleus produces fMRI response in the motor cortex.

Lai HY, Younce JR, Kao YC, Hong Y, Shih YY. The 21st ISMRM. Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 2013.

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Deep brain stimulation fMRI with a home-made two-channel tungsten microwire electrode.

Lai HY, Younce JR, Kao YC, Shih YY. The 21st ISMRM. Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 2013.

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Optimal Parameters of CO2 Laser-Induced Nociception for Electrophysiological Recordings.

Kao YC, Jaw FS. The 15th Congress of the European federation of Neurological Societies. Budapest, Hungary, 2011.

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Wireless Recording of Multichannel Action Potential for Freely Moving Rat.

Tsai YH, Kao YC, Jaw FS. The European Conference of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering. Budapest, Hungary, 2011.

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Spike Sorting Algorithm for Multi-channel Evoked Multi-unit Action Potentials.

Tan CN, Kao YC, Jaw FS. Annual Symposium on Biomedical Engineering and Technology. Taiwan, 2010.

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Multichannel Evoked Neural Signal Compression Using Advanced Video Compression Algorithm.

Chung CH, Chen LG, Kao YC, Jaw FS. The 4th International IEEE EMBS Neural Engineering Conference. Antalya, Turkey, 2009.

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Optimal Transform of Multichannel Evoked Neural Signals Using a Video Compression Algorithm.

Chung CH, Chen LG, Kao YC, Jaw FS. The 3rd International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering. Beijing, China, 2009.

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Utilizing Cross Correlation Coefficient for Estimation the Detection Range of Michigan Probe.

Kao YC, Wang CS, Jaw FS. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience. Bodrum, Turkey, 2008. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.01.358.

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Intelligent Content-Aware Model-Free Low Power Evoked Neural Signal Compression.

Chung CH, Kao YC, Chen LG, Jaw FS. Pacific-Rim Conference on Multimedia 2008, Taiwan. LNCS 5353, pp. 898–901.

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Automatic sorting of multi-unit action potentials.

Chen HJ, Kao YC, Jaw FS. International Symposium on Biomedical Engineering, Taiwan, 2006.

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