Biography
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. Dr. Leong is presently a Co-PI of the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing. He is an expert in preclinical rodent imaging, particularly optogenetics with functional MRI (fMRI) in interrogating brain networks and functions. His research focuses on examining spatiotemporal properties that govern neural activity propagations and interactions in brain networks, and the neural underpinnings of brain-wide functional connectivity as measured with resting-state fMRI. Dr. Leong is an elected Junior Fellow of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) in 2019 and the recipient of the Young Investigator Award from the Overseas Chinese Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine in 2017. He has also served on numerous technical and scientific committees in ISMRM. Dr. Leong’s works on using fMRI, optogenetics, electrophysiology, behavioral assessments, and computational modeling to dissect brain-wide functions of the thalamo-cortical, hippocampal-cortical and vestibulo-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) 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.
Related Links
Selected Publications
Preclinical MRI Neuroimaging:
- Ma T, Wang X, Lin X, Wen J, Xie L, Cao P, Khong PL, Wu EX*, Leong ATL*: Olfactory cortical outputs recruit and shape distinct brain-wide spatiotemporal networks. eLife, 2024;13: RP101189 (*senior authorship)
- Wang X*, Leong ATL*, Tan SZK, Lim LW, Wu EX: Functional MRI reveals brain-wide actions of thalamically-initiated oscillatory activities on associative memory consolidation. Nature Communications, 2023;14(1):2195 (*equal contribution)
- Leong ATL*, Wong EC, Dong CM, Wang X, Wu EX*: Hippocampus modulates vocalizations responses at early auditory centers. Neuroimage, 2023;270:119943 (*senior authorship)
- Liu J, Mo J, Wang X, An Z, Zhang S, Zhang C, Yi P, Leong ATL, Ren J, Chen L, Mo R, Xie Y, Feng Q, Chen W, Gao T, Wu EX, Feng Y, Cao X: Astrocyte dysfunction drives abnormal resting-state functional connectivity in depress. Science Advances2022; 8(46):eabo2098
- Leong ATL, Gu Y, Chan YS, Dong CM, Chan RW, Wang X, Liu Y, Lyu M, Wu EX: Optogenetic fMRI interrogation of brain-wide central vestibular pathways. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA,116:20 2019; E10122-E10129
- Leong ATL, Wu EX: fMRI: Making connections in the brain. eLife,2017;6:e32064 (invited insight article)
- 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)
- 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
MRI Physics and Engineering:
- Zhao Y, Ding Y, Lau V, Man C, Su S, Xiao L, Leong ATL, Wu EX: Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at 0.05 Tesla. Science, 2024; 384(6696):eadm7168
- Liu Y*, Leong ATL*, Zhao Y, Xiao L, Mak HKF, Tsang A, Lau GKK, Leung GKK, Wu EX: A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner. Nature Communications, 2021; 12(1):7238 (*equal contribution)
- Man C, Lau V, Su S, Zhao Y, Xiao L, Ding Y, Leung GKK, Leong ATL, Wu EX. Deep learning enabled fast 3D brain MRI at 0.055 tesla. Science Advances9(38):eadi9327, 2023
- Lau V, Xiao L, Zhao Y, Su S, Ding Y, Man C, Wang X, Tsang A, Peng C, Lau GKK, Leung GKK, Leong ATL, Wu EX. Pushing the limits of low-cost ultra-low-field MRI by dual-acquisition deep learning 3D super-resolution. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine90(2):400-416, 2023
- Xiao L, Liu Y, Yi Z, Zhao Y, Xie L, Cao P, Leong ATL, Wu EX. Partial Fourier reconstruction of complex MR images using complex-valued convolutional neural network. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine87(2):999–1014, 2022