Faculty

Chunlei Liu, PhD Chunlei Liu is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. He received a B.S. in Physics from Peking University, a M.S. in Physics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. Before joining UC Berkeley, he was an Associate Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. His current research interests are brain imaging and modulation. He develops MRI and signal processing techniques to study brain structure and function. His group also works on technologies for remote modulation of neuronal activities. He received NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99) in 2006, ISMRM Young Investigator Award finalist in 2007 and RSNA Margulis Award in 2015. In 2021, he was elected Fellow of ISMRM and Fellow of AIMBE (American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering).

Research Staff

Victor Han, PhD Victor is a staff member interested in the application of physics and engineering to biological systems. Specifically, he has mainly worked on improving MRI RF hardware and pulses. He received his PhD in EECS from UC Berkeley in 2022 and his BS in EE with a minor in CS from Caltech in 2017.

Miriam Hernandez-Morales, PhD Miriam Hernandez-Morales is an associate scientist in Professor Chunlei Liu Lab. Miriam received her B.S. in Pharmaceutical Biological Chemistry from the Faculty of Chemistry Sciences at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí, México, and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the Neurobiology Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Her research focuses on understanding how neuronal activity causally contributes to behavior. To address this question, she has developed approaches to remotely activate ion channels and control cellular activity. Her goal is to determine how the coordinated activity of neurons and glial cells shapes brain function.

Postdoctoral Scholars

	Folk Narongrit, PhD Folk is a postdoctoral scholar in EECS. He received is PhD in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University, MS in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and MS in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University. He is the recipient of the IEEE MTT-S Graduate Fellowship in Microwave Engineering for Medical Applications. His research interest includes the development of magnetic resonance imaging hardware for research and clinical use.
	Giulia Debiasi, PhD Giulia is an EECS Postdoctoral Scholar. She received her B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from University of Padova, Italy, in July 2018, and her M.Sc. Degree in Bioengineering from University of Padova, Italy, in December 2020. She received her PhD in Clinical and Experimental Oncology and Immunology at the University of Padova, Italy in March 2025. Her research focuses on clinical applications of neuroimaging methods and on the development of imaging markers to support clinical practice. In particular, she is interested in magnetic susceptibility imaging of pathological conditions of the human brain, such as brain tumors and neurodegenerative diseases.
	Juan Morales-Zúñiga, PhD Juan Morales-Zúñiga has been a postdoctoral fellow in Chunlei Liu’s lab since 2024 and holds a PhD in Neurosciences from the Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile. During his studies, he developed an automated protocol for epilepsy induction in rats and investigated glial signaling and synaptic plasticity. After completing his PhD, he served as an adjunct professor of physiology and pathophysiology in Chile. His research interests include neuron-glia communication and neurological diseases, and he is now focused on magneto-genetic control of cerebral tissue.
	Kyu-Jin Jung, PhD Kyu-Jin Jung is a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Chunlei Liu’s Lab. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Yonsei University, South Korea, in 2025. His research focuses on developing methods for mapping the electromagnetic properties in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using optimization and deep learning techniques, grounded in finite-difference time-domain simulations. He is particularly interested in physics-integrated deep learning approaches. He has also extended his expertise to functional MRI, investigating whether dynamic changes in electrical properties are associated with brain activation. In addition, he is interested in motion detection & correction as well as coil combination techniques, aiming to integrate these methods to establish more precise and reliable MRI methodologies.
	Philippa Krahn, PhD Philippa Krahn is a postdoc who works on structural brain imaging with ultrahigh field MRI. Philippa completed her undergraduate studies in Engineering Physics at Queen’s University (Canada) and her PhD at the University of Toronto in Medical Biophysics. Her previous research focused on MRI guidance for minimally-invasive cardiac arrhythmia therapy. Philippa’s research interests follow broad themes of integrated MRI hardware systems, and novel endogenous biomarkers of health and disease, all with a strong focus on clinical translatability. Outside of the lab, Philippa can be found hugging trees in the parks in the Bay Area.
	Yuxiang Li, PhD Yuxiang Li is a postdoctoral researcher specializing in applying magnetogenetics in the modulation of neural circuits, with a translational focus on neurological disease. She is proficient in cranial-window surgery, stereotaxic injections, rodent behavioral assays, primary neuron culture, and calcium imaging. Dr. Li earned her Ph.D. in Neurology (2019–2022) from Fudan University (China) and completed clinical training at Dalian Medical University (2010–2017), receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Medicine and Master’s degree in Neurology. She has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications. Clinically, she served as a Resident Physician at Chengdu Second People’s Hospital (2017–2019) and later as Resident and Attending physician at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University (2022–2024). Drawing on both research and clinical experience, Dr. Li turns real clinical problems into research questions and pushes laboratory advances toward real-world medical use.

PhD Students

	Asli Alpman Asli Alpman is a Ph.D. student in EECS at UC Berkeley, advised by Prof. Chunlei Liu. She received her B.S. degree in 2020 and M.S. degree in 2023, both in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bilkent University, Türkiye. Her research interests include quantitative susceptibility imaging, microstructural imaging using susceptibility, and sub-voxel susceptibility source separation.
	Charlie Reeder Charlie Reeder is a third-year EECS PhD student. She holds a BE in Electrical Engineering from Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering. She is interested in developing electromagnetic systems for minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Her current research focuses on MRI coil design, particularly the hardware implementation of a broadband transmit coil which excites any biologically relevant NMR-active isotope in high-field, human-scale MRI systems.
	Hannah Kempfert Hannah Kempfert joined Berkeley as an EECS PhD student in 2023. She obtained a BSc in Electrical Engineering with a minor in mathematics from the University of Florida in 2023. Hannah's research interests include brain imaging, signal processing, and RF hardware for MRI applications.   Awards Chancellor's Fellowship, UC Berkeley, 2023 EECS Excellence Award, UC Berkeley, 2023
	Tanya Deniz Ipek Tanya is a fourth-year EECS PhD student. She received her B.S. degree from Bogazici University, Turkey, in 2021. Her research focuses on developing a low specific absorption rate simultaneous multislice imaging technique using multiphoton excitation. Her other research interests include RF pulse design for parallel transmission at ultrahigh field strengths.
	Tiffany Tran Tiffany is a Neuroscience Ph.D. candidate in the Liu Lab. She received her B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) in 2020. Her previous research focused on functionalizing semiconductor nanoparticles with organic ligands for photon upconversion. She is currently working on developing and applying magnetogenetic techniques to investigate astrocytic contributions to neural activity. Her general research interests include astrocyte physiology and noninvasive neuromodulation.

Visiting Scholars

Siyun Jung Siyun Jung is a visiting scholar and Ph.D. student in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Yonsei University. Her research interests include MRI physics-informed deep learning and AI-driven image reconstruction.

Undergraduate Researchers

	Vaughan Abakians Vaughan Abakians is an undergraduate student studying Physics and Mathematics. He currently works under the mentorship of Tanya Deniz Ipek, and assists with simulations focused on designing parallel transmit RF pulses to improve flip angle homogeneity while reducing power demands.
	San Vu San is an undergraduate researcher in EECS, working with Charlie Reeder and Folk Narongrit. He is working on RF hardware and circuits design for MRI.

PhD/Postdoc Alumni

	Victor Han, PhD Next or Current Position: Research Scientist, UC Berkeley
	Hongjiang Wei, PhD Next or Current Position: Faculty, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
	Yuyao Zhang, PhD Next or Current Position: Faculty, Shanghai Tech University
	Nian Wang, PhD Next or Current Position: Faculty, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center
	Nan-jie Gong, PhD Next or Current Position: Faculty, East China Normal University
	Maruf Ahmed, PhD Next or Current Position: Faculty, BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh
	Koyam Morales Weil, PhD Next or Current Position: Faculty, Universidad de Viña del Mar, Chile
	Xiaojun Guan, MD, PhD Next or Current Position: Faculty, Zhejiang University Hospital
	Wei Li, PhD Next or Current Position: Faculty, UT Southwestern Medical Center (formerly)
	Wei Cao, MD, PhD Next or Current Position: Faculty, Tongji University
	Luke Xie, PhD Next or Current Position: Genentech
	Bing Wu, PhD Next or Current Position: GE Healthcare
	Matthew Cronin, PhD Next or Current Position: Zscaler
	Russell Dibb, PhD Next or Current Position: GE Healthcare
	Zoe Cohen, PhD
	Sang Min Han, PhD Next or Current Position: Exponent
	Eric Gibbs, PhD Next or Current Position: Postdoc, Case Western Reserve University
	Jingjia Chen, PhD Next or Current Position: Postdoc, New York University

Master's Researcher Alumni

	Ioannis Argyridis Next or Current Position: Medical Physicist
	Nicole Murphy Next or Current Position: Medical Physicist
	Jianshu Chi
	Laurance Law
	Kyle Decker

Undergraduate Researcher Alumni

	Trisha Shang Next or Current Position: Medical School
	Samantha Lai Next or Current Position: Medical School
	Steven Cao Next or Current Position: PhD student, Stanford University
	Saisnigdha Allaparthi Next or Current Position: Medical School
	Raymond Wang Next or Current Position: PhD student, MIT
	Matthew Shen Next or Current Position: PhD student, Columbia University
	Amy Wang Next or Current Position: Genentech