Keynotes 2026
Hui Hui is a Professor of biomedical engineering at the Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging Technology Research and Translation, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. He received his Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Franche-Comté, Besançon, France, in 2013. His research focuses on developing multimodal molecular imaging techniques, especially for magnetic particle imaging, and artificial intelligence in medical image processing. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Young Scholars of Beijing Natural Science Foundation, and the outstanding member of the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is currently serving as the deputy secretary general of Medical Imaging and Equipment Committee of China Graphics Society.
Development of MPI scanners and biomedical applications
This talk will highlight the developmental roadmap of Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) from fundamental research to clinical translation in China. Key technological advancements include a systematic development from small-animal to non-human primate scale scanners, achieving superior performance with high sensitivity, high resolution, and a large field of view. The integration of artificial intelligent strategies—such as hardware-informed pre-training, gradient-pulse encoding, and constrained reconstruction—has significantly enhanced imaging speed, quantitative accuracy, and signal-to-noise ratio. We also establish an open platform for MPI software and algorithm development. In biomedical applications, MPI demonstrates exceptional utilities in tumor detection, cell tracking, and cardiovascular disease visualization. This highly sensitive capability positions MPI as a powerful tool for in vivo visualization and monitoring of disease progression at the molecular level.
Tuo Shao is a Professor at the Medical College of Soochow University, specializing in Immunology and Infectious Diseases. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2017 from the School of Medicine at the University of Louisville. He subsequently completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) from 2017 to 2021, and served as an Instructor at Harvard Medical School and MGH from 2022 to 2023. His research focuses on developing and translating next-generation cell therapies, with a particular emphasis on magnetic particle imaging (MPI)-based cell tracking to enable quantitative, longitudinal, and mechanism-driven evaluation of therapeutic cell fate and efficacy in vivo. Dr. Shao is a recipient of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) K01 Career Development Award.
A Translational MPI Platform for Quantitative Cell Tracking in Regenerative Medicine and Immunotherapy
Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is an emerging quantitative imaging modality with high sensitivity, zero tissue background, and excellent linearity for detecting superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) tracers. These features make MPI uniquely suited to address the “black box” of cell therapy—where therapeutic cells go, how long they persist, and how many remain at target sites after delivery. This talk will highlight recent advances in MPI-enabled tracking of multiple therapeutic cell platforms, including mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs), CAR-engineered macrophages (CAR-M), and transplanted neurons. We will also present the first clinical translation of MPI for MSC tracking, demonstrating longitudinal, compartment-resolved quantification of cell retention and redistribution in vivo. Collectively, MPI-based cell tracking provides PK-like exposure metrics that can be linked to therapeutic outcomes and used to optimize dose, delivery route, and treatment regimen for next-generation cell therapies.