Liang Liang, PhD, BS
Assistant ProfessorCards
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Additional Titles
Assistant Professor, Neuroscience
Contact Info
Appointments
Additional Titles
Assistant Professor, Neuroscience
Contact Info
Appointments
Additional Titles
Assistant Professor, Neuroscience
Contact Info
About
Titles
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor, Neuroscience
Biography
Liang Liang received her B.S. in Mathematics and Physics from Tsinghua University in China. She then moved to the United States and completed her M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Physics at Stanford University under the supervision of Drs. Liqun Luo and Mark Schnitzer. During her graduate work, Liang identified a novel circuit motif that recruited excitatory and inhibitory channels in parallel to shape odor processing in the fruit fly, using two-photon imaging, laser dissection and optogenetics. She was supported by a Stanford Graduate Fellowship and a Lubert Stryer Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship. Liang joined the groups of Drs. Chinfei Chen and Mark Andermann at Harvard Medical School for her postdoctoral training, where she studied functional organization and state-dependent modulation of retinal axons in the early visual system of awake behaving mice. She was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB). Liang joined the Department of Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in 2020. Her laboratory studies the computation of information selectivity along the visual hierarchy with a primary focus on the visual thalamic circuitry, taking a combination of in vivo imaging, genetic, behavioral, and computational approaches.
Appointments
Neuroscience
Assistant ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- Research Fellow
- Boston Children's Hospital (2019)
- PhD
- Stanford University, Applied Physics (2013)
- BS
- Tsinghua University, Mathematics and Physics (2006)
Research
Overview
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
- View Lab Website
Liang Lab
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Publications Timeline
Research Interests
James Duncan, PhD
Visual Pathways
Visual Perception
Publications
2024
A general approach to improve adversarial robustness of DNNs for medical image segmentation and detection
Ma L, Chen J, Qian L, Liang L. A general approach to improve adversarial robustness of DNNs for medical image segmentation and detection. Progress In Biomedical Optics And Imaging 2024, 12926: 1292613-1292613-9. DOI: 10.1117/12.3006534.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsAdversarial robustness of deep neural networksRobustness of deep neural networksAdversarial training methodDeep neural networksMedical image segmentationImage segmentationAdversarial robustnessAdversarial noiseLandmark detectionTraining methodsRobust deep neural networkMedical image analysis tasksDetection taskPerformance of DNN modelsImproving adversarial robustnessImage analysis tasksMedical imaging tasksCephalometric landmark detectionMedical imaging fieldAdversarial trainingObject detectionClassification taskDNN modelImage classificationAnalysis tasks
2023
Towards an adversarially robust convolutional neural network for automated diagnosis of malaria infection from microscopy images
Liang L, Sun B. Towards an adversarially robust convolutional neural network for automated diagnosis of malaria infection from microscopy images. Biomedical Signal Processing And Control 2023, 86: 105362. DOI: 10.1016/j.bspc.2023.105362.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConceptsConvolutional neural networkDiagnosis of malaria infectionAdversarial noiseNeural networkMalaria infectionRobust convolutional neural networkAutomated diagnosisHuman expert’s interactionAutomated malaria diagnosisMalaria parasite identificationBlood smear imagesAdversarial robustnessAdversarial trainingDiagnosis of malarial infectionImage datasetsBaseline networkExpert interactionLevel of noiseMedical imagesMalaria diagnosisLow-resource settingsMalarial infectionIncreasing levels of noiseComputational costSmear imagesTowards lifting the trade-off between accuracy and adversarial robustness of deep neural networks with application on COVID 19 CT image classification and medical image segmentation
Ma L, Liang L. Towards lifting the trade-off between accuracy and adversarial robustness of deep neural networks with application on COVID 19 CT image classification and medical image segmentation. Progress In Biomedical Optics And Imaging 2023, 12464: 124641u-124641u-8. DOI: 10.1117/12.2653392.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsDeep neural networksAdversarial noiseImage classificationAdversarial robustness of deep neural networksNeural networkRobustness of deep neural networksDeep neural network modelImprove DNN robustnessAdversarial training methodMinimal accuracy degradationMedical image segmentationPublic medical datasetsCT image classificationDeep learning modelsAdversarial trainingAdversarial robustnessDefense methodsMedical datasetsSegmentation taskTraining samplesImage segmentationAccuracy degradationClean dataLearning modelsTrade-offs
2022
Brainstem serotonin neurons selectively gate retinal information flow to thalamus
Reggiani J, Jiang Q, Barbini M, Lutas A, Liang L, Fernando J, Deng F, Wan J, Li Y, Chen C, Andermann M. Brainstem serotonin neurons selectively gate retinal information flow to thalamus. Neuron 2022, 111: 711-726.e11. PMID: 36584680, PMCID: PMC10131437, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.12.006.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsVisual information streamsRetinal ganglion cell typesBrainstem serotonin neuronsFiber photometry recordingsGanglion cell typesTwo-photon calcium imagingSerotonin neuronsVisual thalamusGlutamate releaseSerotonergic axonsRGC axonsSerotonin axonsThalamocortical neuronsAxon stimulationAwake micePresynaptic terminalsCalcium imagingOptogenetic stimulationCalcium activityLocal visual stimuliAxonsThalamusBoutonsVisual stimuliNeuronsMating-driven variability in olfactory local interneuron wiring
Chou YH, Yang CJ, Huang HW, Liou NF, Panganiban MR, Luginbuhl D, Yin Y, Taisz I, Liang L, Jefferis GSXE, Luo L. Mating-driven variability in olfactory local interneuron wiring. Science Advances 2022, 8: eabm7723. PMID: 35179957, PMCID: PMC8856614, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm7723.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetric
2020
Organization, Function, and Development of the Mouse Retinogeniculate Synapse
Liang L, Chen C. Organization, Function, and Development of the Mouse Retinogeniculate Synapse. Annual Review Of Vision Science 2020, 6: 261-285. PMID: 32936733, DOI: 10.1146/annurev-vision-121219-081753.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsRetinogeniculate synapseDistinct retinal ganglion cell typesRetinal ganglion cell typesGanglion cell typesImage-forming pathwayVisual thalamusThalamocortical neuronsVisual pathwayExperimental modelCircuit organizationThalamusSynapseMiceCell typesFunctional organizationRecent studiesPowerful experimental modelCurrent understandingVisual spaceVisual experiencePathwayNeuronsRGCsRetinal Inputs to the Thalamus Are Selectively Gated by Arousal
Liang L, Fratzl A, Reggiani JDS, El Mansour O, Chen C, Andermann ML. Retinal Inputs to the Thalamus Are Selectively Gated by Arousal. Current Biology 2020, 30: 3923-3934.e9. PMID: 32795442, PMCID: PMC7665906, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.065.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsVisual thalamusVisual responsesMajority of boutonsTwo-photon calciumCentral visual processingArousal stateIntermediate spatial frequenciesEnhancement of responsesAxonal boutonsRetinal axonsRetinal inputDifferent pupil sizesVisual pathwayThalamusBoutonsMouse thalamusVisual processingMagnitude of responseVisual information channelsDistinct subsetsEarly stagesPupil sizeNeural activityDifferential modulationBehavioral states
2019
On the Identification of Heterogeneous Nonlinear Material Properties of the Aortic Wall from Clinical Gated CT Scans
Liu M, Liang L, Lou X, Iannucci G, Chen E, Leshnower B, Sun W. On the Identification of Heterogeneous Nonlinear Material Properties of the Aortic Wall from Clinical Gated CT Scans. Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics 2019, 16: 53-53. DOI: 10.32604/mcb.2019.07387.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitations
2018
A Fine-Scale Functional Logic to Convergence from Retina to Thalamus
Liang L, Fratzl A, Goldey G, Ramesh RN, Sugden AU, Morgan JL, Chen C, Andermann ML. A Fine-Scale Functional Logic to Convergence from Retina to Thalamus. Cell 2018, 173: 1343-1355.e24. PMID: 29856953, PMCID: PMC6003778, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.04.041.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsAxonal boutonsRetinal ganglion cellsTwo-photon calciumImage-forming visionClusters of boutonsVisual thalamusGanglion cellsRetinal axonsBouton clustersThalamusMouse thalamusIndividual axonsDifferent axonsFeature selectivityBoutonsFine-scale organizationAxonsDendritic domainsUltrastructural analysisRetina
2017
Is it appropriate to measure age-related lumbar disc degeneration on the mid-sagittal MR image? A quantitative image study
Hu X, Chen M, Pan J, Liang L, Wang Y. Is it appropriate to measure age-related lumbar disc degeneration on the mid-sagittal MR image? A quantitative image study. European Spine Journal 2017, 27: 1073-1081. PMID: 29147797, DOI: 10.1007/s00586-017-5357-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsMid-sagittal magnetic resonance imagingMagnetic resonance imagingPosterior disc bulgingMeasures of disc degenerationAssociated with ageDisc bulgeDisc degenerationDisc heightSpine magnetic resonance imagingAge-related disc degenerationT2-weighted magnetic resonance imagingSagittal magnetic resonance imagingDisc signal intensityLumbar disc degenerationSevere disc degenerationDisc height measurementsMid-sagittal MR imagesDisc narrowingSignal intensity measurementsMR imagingResonance imagingDegenerationAgeSignal intensityPhenotype
Academic Achievements and Community Involvement
honor The E. Matilda Ziegler Foundation for the Blind research award
National AwardThe E. Matilda Ziegler FoundationDetails04/01/2022United Stateshonor Whitehall Foundation Research Grant
National AwardWhitehall FoundationDetails08/01/2021United Stateshonor Kavli Innovative Research Award
Yale University AwardKavli Institute for NeuroscienceDetails06/01/2021United Stateshonor Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research
Regional AwardRichard and Susan Smith Family FoundationDetails04/01/2021United Stateshonor Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Awards in Neuroscience
National AwardThe Klingenstein Fund and the Simons FoundationDetails07/01/2020United States