Kevin C. Chan

Assistant Professor
Ophthalmology
NYU Langone Medical Center USA
United States of America

Doctor Ophthalmology
Biography

I am the director of the Neuroimaging and Visual Science Laboratory at NYU School of Medicine. My laboratory focuses on developing and applying new, noninvasive methods for imaging degeneration, development, protection, plasticity, and regeneration in the visual system. We aim to better understand interactions among the eye, the brain, and behavior in health and disease in order to preserve and restore vision. I have over 10 years of experience in structural, metabolic, and functional MRI research of the eye and the brain in humans and animal models of glaucoma and other visual impairments. I completed my doctoral studies in biomedical engineering (neuroimaging) at the University of Hong Kong and was awarded the Li Ka Shing Prize for the best PhD thesis. I am a junior fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and was a Fulbright scholar in 2009–10. I received the Alcon Research Institute Young Investigator award in 2014 and the BrightFocus Foundation National Glaucoma Research award in 2013 and 2016. In 2015 I was selected by the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research as an emerging vision scientist. I currently serve as the deputy editor of the neuroimaging section of the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, associate editor of the conference editorial board for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, and editorial board member of Frontiers in Brain Imaging Methods and Neural Regeneration Research. We have several ongoing projects in our lab: The Glaucoma Neuroimaging and Neuroprotection in Humans and Experimental Animal Models project focuses on widespread brain involvement and clinical and behavioral relevance, early detection and disease progression, and vision preservation and restoration. The Neural Basis of Sensory Substitution in the Blind project focuses on tactile vision and sound vision, top-down modulation, cross-modal plasticity in different stages of vision loss, multisensory integration and training, and experimental modeling. The Ocular Structures and Physiologyproject involves the study of aqueous humor dynamics, retinal pathophysiology, microstructures and macromolecules in the sclera and cornea, ocular biomechanics, controlled ocular drug delivery, and ocular reconstruction including whole-eye transplantation. In the MR Engineering and Methods Development for the Visual Systemproject we study contrast-enhanced MRI (manganese, gadolinium, iron oxide nanoparticles, and chromium, among others), diffusion MRI, functional MRI, MR spectroscopy, susceptibility-weighted MRI and magic angle–enhanced MRI for the eye and the brain. I am the director of the Neuroimaging and Visual Science Laboratory at NYU School of Medicine. My laboratory focuses on developing and applying new, noninvasive methods for imaging degeneration, development, protection, plasticity, and regeneration in the visual system. We aim to better understand interactions among the eye, the brain, and behavior in health and disease in order to preserve and restore vision. I have over 10 years of experience in structural, metabolic, and functional MRI research of the eye and the brain in humans and animal models of glaucoma and other visual impairments. I completed my doctoral studies in biomedical engineering (neuroimaging) at the University of Hong Kong and was awarded the Li Ka Shing Prize for the best PhD thesis. I am a junior fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and was a Fulbright scholar in 2009–10. I received the Alcon Research Institute Young Investigator award in 2014 and the BrightFocus Foundation National Glaucoma Research award in 2013 and 2016. In 2015 I was selected by the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research as an emerging vision scientist. I currently serve as the deputy editor of the neuroimaging section of the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, associate editor of the conference editorial board for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, and editorial board member of Frontiers in Brain Imaging Methods and Neural Regeneration Research. We have several ongoing projects in our lab: The Glaucoma Neuroimaging and Neuroprotection in Humans and Experimental Animal Models project focuses on widespread brain involvement and clinical and behavioral relevance, early detection and disease progression, and vision preservation and restoration. The Neural Basis of Sensory Substitution in the Blind project focuses on tactile vision and sound vision, top-down modulation, cross-modal plasticity in different stages of vision loss, multisensory integration and training, and experimental modeling. The Ocular Structures and Physiologyproject involves the study of aqueous humor dynamics, retinal pathophysiology, microstructures and macromolecules in the sclera and cornea, ocular biomechanics, controlled ocular drug delivery, and ocular reconstruction including whole-eye transplantation. In the MR Engineering and Methods Development for the Visual Systemproject we study contrast-enhanced MRI (manganese, gadolinium, iron oxide nanoparticles, and chromium, among others), diffusion MRI, functional MRI, MR spectroscopy, susceptibility-weighted MRI and magic angle–enhanced MRI for the eye and the brain.

Research Intrest

Biomedical imaging, Magnetic resonance imaging, Visual neuroscience, Visual system, Eye, Glaucoma, Sensory substitution