A.T.L. Leong

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Tel.: 3917 2699
Office: CB 514

Alex T.L. Leong

Research Assistant Professor

Research Interests

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) applications in neuroscience research; Preclinical MRI; Optogenetics; Neuromodulation
Dr. Alex T. L. Leong received his B.Eng. in Medical Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 2013 before completing his Ph.D. training with Prof. Ed X. Wu in Biomedical Engineering from the same university in 2017. For his Ph.D., he worked on combining optogenetics with functional MRI (fMRI) in the study of spatiotemporal properties that govern neural activity propagations and interactions in the sensory thalamo-cortical network and the neural underpinnings of brain-wide functional connectivity as measured with resting-state fMRI. He then joined the Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing (BISP) at The University of Hong Kong from 2017-2018 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Leong is the recipient of the Young Investigator Award from the Overseas Chinese Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (2017) and Summa Cum Laude Merit Award (2015-2018) from the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Dr. Leong’s works on using fMRI, optogenetics and electrophysiology to dissect brain-wide functions of the thalamo-cortical and hippocampal-cortical networks have been featured prominently in global and local news media.
His current research interests include the use of neuroimaging, particularly MRI, to (1) visualize and study complex and poorly understood brain networks with preclinical animal models; and (2) develop novel non-invasive neuromodulation techniques that can be translated for therapeutic use.
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Selected Publications

Journal:
Leong ATL, Wu EX: fMRI: Making Connections in the Brain. eLife, 2017;6:e32064 (invited insight article)
Leong ATL, Chan RW, Gao PP, Chan YS, Tsia KK, Yung WH, Wu EX: Long-range Projections Coordinate Distributed Brain-wide Neural Activity with a Specific Spatiotemporal Profile. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 113.51 2016; E8306-E8315
Chan RW*, Leong ATL*, Ho LC, Gao PP, Wong EC, Dong CM, Lim LW, Wu EX: Low Frequency Hippocampal-Cortical Activity Drives Brain-wide Resting-state Functional MRI Connectivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 114.33 2017; E6972-E6981 (*equal contribution)
Liu Y, Lyu M, Barth M, Yi Z, Leong ATL, Chen F, Feng Y, Wu, EX: PEC-GRAPPA Reconstruction of Simultaneous Multislice EPI with Slice-dependent 2D Nyquist Ghost Correction. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2018 (DOI:10.1002/mrm.27546; in press).
Gao PP, Zhang JW, Chan RW, Leong ATL, Wu EX: BOLD fMRI Study of Ultrahigh Frequency Encoding in The Inferior Colliculus. Neuroimage, 2015; 114:427-437
Leong ATL, Dong CM, Gao PP, Chan RW, Sanes DH, Wu EX: Optogenetic Auditory fMRI Reveals the Effects of Visual Cortical Inputs on Auditory Midbrain Response. Scientific Reports, 8 2018; 8736
Conference Papers:
Leong ATL, Wang X, Chan RW, Cao X, Wu EX: Optogenetic fMRI Dissection of Brain-wide Vestibular Pathways. Proceedings of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Paris, France, p1211, 2018; (Summa Cum Laude Merit Award; Oral Presentation).
Leong ATL, Wang X, Chan RW, El Hallaoui K, Wu EX: Neural Activity Pattern(s) Underlying Brain Interhemispheric Propagation: An Optogenetic fMRI Study. Proceedings of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Paris, France, p1111, 2018; (Power Pitch Presentation).
Leong ATL, Wang X, Chan RW, Ho LC, Qiu Y, Dong CM, Wu EX: Optogenetic Resting-state fMRI Reveals Thalamic Modulation of Long-range Sensory Networks. Proceedings of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Honolulu, HI, p0239, 2017; (Magna Cum Laude Merit Award; Power Pitch Presentation).
Leong ATL, Chan RW, Wang X, Dong CM, Ho LC, Wu EX: Low Frequency Activity from Somatosensory Thalamus Propagates Brain-wide and Modulates Top-down Visual Processing. Proceedings of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Honolulu, HI, p5401,
Leong ATL, Chan RW, Gao PP, Liu Y, Wang X, Tsia KK, Wu EX: Optogenetic fMRI Reveals Differences Between Paralemniscal and Lemniscal Somatosensory Thalamocortical Circuit. Proceedings of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Singapore, p0482, 2016; (Oral Presentation).
Leong ATL, Chan RW, Gao PP, Cheng JS, Zhang JW, Fan SJ, Tsia KK, Wong KKY, Wu EX: Frequency Specific Optogenetic Recruitment of Evoked Responses in The Somatosensory Thalamocortical Circuit. Proceedings of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Toronto, Canada, p0135, 2015; (Summa Cum Laude Merit Award; Oral Presentation).

Last updated: September 9th, 2019