In the Spotlight - Annie Zhang

What initially got you interested in WiSolve?

I learned about WiSolve from a Cheeky Scientist seminar. I was intrigued by the business and industry engagement I could get from WiSolve. WiSolve gave me a chance to meet people from very diversified backgrounds, where I met with MDs, MBAs, and, of course, other PhDs who have years of experience in their field. I feel I’m not only working for/with them, but also learning from everybody.

What is your research about? What is your most proud of achievement?

I work on quantitative diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), focusing on improving the diagnostic accuracy of cancer. Diffusion MRI is a type of imaging sequence that is sensitive to the brownian motion of water molecules in human body. The diffusion of water is encoded by varying the magnetic field, turned into detectable signal, and reconstructed to quantitative apparent diffusion coefficient map. It is an efficient biomarker of tumor, especially malignant lesions.

The moment I’m most proud of is not when I publish the papers. It’s actually when I see the lesions that are used to be missed due to poor image quality can be clearly shown to the Radiologists with my proposed technique, and when what I do can really help the patients.

Please take a look at our lab website if you are interested!

How do you like your graduate school life?

I feel really grateful with my husband and our two cat babies staying with me all time. I love spending my spare time simply hanging out with them, watching movies, enjoying some wine. 2020 is also the 10-year anniversary for my husband and I. We’ve been together since high school and made it through the same college and graduate school together. Graduate school is definitely stressful but I appreciate everything I have, interesting research projects and a happy family.