TCCI Newsletter: Springing into 2023



	中文

Dear Friends,

In our very first newsletter of 2023, we are happy to share with you our 2022 Annual Report which promotes the accomplishments of TCCI-affiliated scientists around the world last year and highlights the diverse programs in the TCCI ecosystem.

As you will see below, we were excited in 2022 to organize and present new, innovative scientific meetings with well-known organizations. In January, we saw the second Chen Brain and Mind Lecture at the California Academy of Sciences feature Dr. Indre Viskontas and in February we held our annual Principal Investigator conference in Shanghai.

We look forward to building on these successes with you in 2023.

Warmly,

Tianqiao Chen Chrissy Luo

ANNUAL REPORT

Read Our 2022 Annual Report!

Learn more about the progress made last year within the TCCI community in terms of events, research, new initiatives and more.

English

中文

RECOGNITION

TCCI Co-Founder Chrissy Luo Honored by the China Institute

Chrissy Luo, a co-founder of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute (TCCI) was honored by the China Institute at their 2023 gala on Thursday, January 26th as one of this year’s “Outstanding Asian American Women Who Dared to Change Our Community and Future.” The award recognizes women who do great things in the world and who are role models for the younger generation.

News

TCCI 2023 Annual PI Conference: Pressing Ahead with “3521” Strategy, Bringing New Breakthroughs for Brain Science

On February 25, 2023, the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute 2023 Annual Principal Investigator (PI) Conference was held in Shanghai with Founder Tianqiao Chen and Co-founder Chrissy Luo attending. During the conference, Chen summarized TCCI’s past research and achievements and proposed a “3521” strategy to further advance brain science research.

TCCI announces New Summer School Series on Brain Dynamics in Health and Disease

FENS and TCCI were delighted to announce the new FENS-Chen Institute NeuroLéman Summer School Series on Brain Dynamics in Health and Disease. This new Summer School series will explore cutting-edge technologies for basic and clinical neuroscience, in order to develop novel concepts and new research techniques to address the challenges of investigating brain function and dysfunction.

Learn more

China’s First Brain Science Documentary Goes Viral, Highlighting TCCI’s Achievements

Delving into the Brain, produced by China Media Group (CMG) and broadcast on China Central Television (CCTV)'s documentary channel, the first documentary series in China to focus on brain science research, has gone viral online and attracted attention from Chinese scientists. The documentary features the achievements of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute (TCCI) and highlighted the impact of the TCCI-produced documentary Minds Wide Open.

Chen Brain & Mind Lectures

NeuroAesthetics: Meaning is in the Brain of the Beholder. The second annual Chen Brain and Mind Lecture took place in February at the California Academy of Sciences. This year, neuroscientist, opera stage director, and 2023 Osher Fellow, Dr. Indre Viskontas explained how our brains turn sensory perceptions into meaningful and moving experiences.

Watch now

SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY

We believe in the power of collaboration and the value of scientific discussion, so we support scientific meetings around the world. You can learn more here or browse Chen Science Writer meetings reports.

USC-Chen Institute Frontiers Forum on “Sensation and Motivation”

March 29-30, 2023. Bringing together outstanding researchers working on different sensory modalities (including visual, auditory, somatosensory, olfactory and gustatory), this forum focused on big questions regarding sensory information processing in the brain.

Read more on the USC website

Plato’s Spiritual Academy: Reflections on Spiritual Phenomena from Scientific and Philosophical Perspectives

February 19, 2023. the first session of Plato’s Spiritual Academy was organized by the TCCI, Shanghai Mental Health Centre, and Shanghai Library under the theme of “Reflections on Spiritual Phenomena from Scientific and Philosophical Perspectives.” Hundreds of participants attended the event and over 140,000 people watched the live stream of the event online.

A Joint UC Davis-Chen Institute Contemplative Science Summit and Community Gathering

February 24, 2023. A daylong summit that explored how contemplative science can extend beyond the lab and into the world to better study the consequences of contemplative practice, and to engage with society in more meaningful, impactful ways.

Learn more and watch the recording

RESEARCH

New Research Reveals Core Trait Impulsivity, Impulse Heterogeneity and Influencing Factors Across Addiction Disorders

Professor Min Zhao and TCCI-affiliated investigator Tifei Yuan from Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University, recently co-authored a paper titled “The Structure and Individual Patterns of Trait Impulsivity Across Addiction Disorders: a Network Analysis,” published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.

Professor Ying Mao Validates that Chronic Cerebral Hypoperfusion Can Independently Cause Changes in Alzheimer’s Biomarkers in Moyamoya Disease

Professor Ying Mao, President of Fudan University-affiliated Huashan Hospital and Director of TCCI Translational Center, recently published a research paper titled “Brain Perfusion, Cognition, and Plasma Alzheimer's Biomarkers in Moyamoya” disease in collaboration with his research team in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association (IF：16.655/Q1).

A GPS for Smart Pills

Researchers have developed "smart pills" which help to diagnose ailments which are typically swallowed collect health data, record images, and even deliver drugs as they pass through the digestive tract. To know their location in the body, a team of Caltech researchers have developed a "GPS" for smart pills.

Read the paper

Proving the Feasibility of Passive Functional Mapping in the Receptive Language Cortex during General Anesthesia

Dr. Gerwin Schalk, Director of the Chen Frontier lab for Applied Neurotechnology, was part of a team of researchers investigating the feasibility of passive functional mapping in the receptive language cortex during general anesthesia using electrocorticographic (ECoG) signals. The paper was published in the March 2023 edition of the journal Clinical Neurophysiology.

A Theory of Rage

From petty anger to the devastating violence we see in the news, acts of aggression can be difficult to comprehend. Research has yielded puzzling paradoxes about how rage works in the brain. But a new study from Caltech, pioneering a machine-learning research technique in the hypothalamus, reveals unexpected answers on the nature of aggression.