WEN Lab

• Nov 2022 

Qiuting served as an ad hoc reviewer for the Indiana CTSI Core Pilot grants study section. 

Dr. Wen earned her Ph.D. from the UCSF-UC Berkeley Joint Ph.D. Program in Bioengineering, specializing in the imaging of brain tumors. During her doctoral research, she cultivated a strong interest in MRI. Following graduation, she transitioned to Indiana University, where she pursued postdoctoral research with a specialized emphasis on advanced diffusion MRI. Her present research is centered on the application of dynamic diffusion-weighted imaging along with other dynamic imaging techniques to comprehensively investigate neurofluid dynamics, its physiological drivers, and its alterations in brain diseases. 

Adam has a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. After graduation, he completed research at the Oregon National Primate Research Center focusing on assessing placental function with various functional MRI techniques (advisor: Matthias Schabel, PhD; PI: Antonio Frias, MD). In the summer of 2020, Adam enrolled in the MD/PhD program at Indiana School of Medicine where he will complete his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. Adam is interested in researching dynamic imaging techniques to greater understand organ function in-vivo. He wants to research the application of these imaging techniques so they can be used to detect organ dysfunction and disease progression allowing him to combine his passion for both engineering and medicine to answer pertinent clinical questions.

Will completed his M.S. in Medical Physics at Purdue, with a focus on MRI physics and advanced signal processing methods. His previous work involved developing an automated approach for signal suppression to improve the detection of metabolic biomarkers (i.e. lactate and choline) in cancer research using chemical shift imaging. Currently, he is working on dynamic diffusion MRI as part of a broader effort to investigate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics and brain waste clearance. He is especially interested in how physiological drivers—such as cardiac pulsation, respiration, and low-frequency oscillations—contribute to CSF flow and glymphatic transport across different brain states. Outside of research, Will enjoy skiing, golfing, and exploring new cities. 

Tianyin is a master's student studying biomedical engineering at Purdue University. Her project involves developing data-driven algorithms for automatically identifying arterial regions in functional MRI. 

Dr. Nair is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences. She was born and brought up in Kerala, India. She received her B. Tech in Electronics and Biomedical Engineering from Cochin University of Science and Technology, MS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University. She is interested in investigating brain perfusion and dynamics of cerebrospinal fluid flow across different neuro-behavioral states. She is also interested in studying the changes in neurofluid dynamics across different cerebrovascular pathologies. Apart from research, she enjoys travel and music.

Dr. Zhu earned his Ph.D. from the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University, majoring in speech and hearing science. During his doctoral study, his research projects focus on using the resting-state fMRI data to explore the neural mechanism in post-stroke aphasia and the possibility of predicting language deficiency. After graduation, he continued to pursue a research career at Wen lab. His present research projects involve using perfusion and dynamic imaging techniques to unveil the driving force of CSF circulation in the human brain.

Dr. Zhang obtained his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His prior research focuses on neuroimaging, neurorehabilitation, and machine learning, with extensive work in the automatic diagnosis and evaluation of rehabilitation training effects for neurological disorders like conduct disorder and stroke. Currently, his research centers on developing novel algorithms to study cerebrospinal fluid flow patterns in the brain using dynamic diffusion MRI. Outside of academia, Jianing enjoys playing badminton and traveling.

Dr. Muskat obtained his Ph.D. from the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University where he developed an original line of research pertaining to translational computational models and applied physiology. His academic work involves the development of open-source tools for simulating the hemodynamic response to acute cardiovascular stress (i.e., fear and aerobic exercise) with an overall goal to explore emergent properties of the human circulation that modulate regional blood flow.

As a Research Assistant within the Wen lab, he supports work with cardiovascular mechanics and delivery of pulse waveforms with natural aging. Further, he is actively seeking his M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Butler University where he hopes to investigate the influence of psychedelics such as psilocybin and ketamine to treat resistant depression.