Yan Cao

Yan Cao

Associate Professor - Mathematical Sciences
 
972-883-6458
FO 2.402D
Tags: medical image analysis computational anatomy computer vision pattern theory shape analysis and shape models

Professional Preparation

Ph.D. - Applied Mathematics
Brown University - 2003
M.S. - Mathematics
The University of Iowa - 1997
B.S. - Computational Mathematics
Peking University - 1996

Research Areas

Research Interests
My research interests lie in the general areas of computer vision and pattern theory, especially biomedical applications. My current research is focused on shape analysis and shape models in two and three dimensions. People can recognize the same or similar shapes in any circumstance, and they have a good intuition on what is the main structure and what is the variation of a shape. We want the computer to do the same thing. There is a lot of mathematics to be done to achieve this goal. The theory in three dimensions is especially challenging. In two dimensions, the medial axis and the geometric heat equation are powerful tools, but both of these are less satisfactory in three dimensions. Understanding the geometry of three-dimensional shapes still presents many problems.
  •       Medical image analysis, computational anatomy
  •       Computer vision, pattern theory
  •       Shape analysis and shape models
  •       Geometric PDE

Publications

S. Yousefi, M. P. Nguyen, N. Kehtarnavaz and Y. Cao, Facial Expression Recognition Based on Diffeomorphic Matching. Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), Hong Kong, 2010. 2010 - Publication
J. Uh, Y. Cao and H. Lu, Quantification of Spinal Cord Blood Volume in Humans Using Vaso Mri, ISMRM Annual Meeting 2010. 2010 - Publication
B. McCary and Y. Cao, Probabilistic Interactive Segmentation Using Multiphase Level Sets. IEEE Southwest Symposium on Image Analysis and Interpretation, Austin, TX, 2010. 2010 - Publication
Y. Cao, Atlas Based Segmentation by Diffeomorphic Deformation. Proceedings of the International Conference on Wavelet Analysis and Pattern Recognition, Hong Kong, 2008. 2008 - Publication
G. Rong, Y. Cao and X. Guo, Spetral Mesh Deformation. The Visual Computer (special issue for CGI 2008), Vol. 24, No. 7-9, 787-796, 2008. 2008 - Publication
G. Rong, Y. Cao and X. Guo, Spectral Surface Deformation with Dual Mesh. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents, Seoul, Korea, 2008. 2008 - Publication
Y. Cao, M.I. Miller, S. Mori, R.L. Winslow, L. Younes, Diffeomorphic Matching of Diffusion Tensor Images. Proceedings of IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition ( C VPR ), Workshop on Mathematical Methods in Biomedical Image Analysis (MMBIA 2006), New York City, NY, 2006. 2006 - Publication
Y. Cao, M.I. Miller, R.L. Winslow and L. Younes, Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Metric Mapping of Vector Fields, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Vol. 24, No. 9, 1216-1230, 2005. 2005 - Publication

Appointments

Assistant Professor (Tenure)
The University of Texas at Dallas [2006–Present]
Postdoctoral Fellow
Johns Hopkins University [2003–2006]
Research Assistant
Brown University [2000–2003]
Research Assistant
Brown University [1999–1999]

Additional Information

Teaching Experience
  • Math 4301 Mathematical Analysis I, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010.
  • Math 4302 Mathematical Analysis II, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010.
  • Math 6301 Real Analysis, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2010.
  • Math 6302 Real and Functional Analysis, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010.
  • Math 6345 Math Methods in Medicine and Biology, Spring 2007.
  • Math 6390 Topics in Mathematics, Math Methods in Image Analysis, Fall 2006, Fall 2009.
Awards and Honors
  • Travel Award, Tenth IEEE international Conference on Computer Vision, October 2005.
  • Stella Dafermos Award, for excellence of academic performance, Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, May 2003.
  • Brown University Graduate Fellowship, Fall 1998 - Spring 1999.
  • The University of Iowa, tuition fellowship in recognition of performance on the Ph.D. comprehensive exams, Spring 1998.
  • Peking University, An Tai Prize for excellent academic performance, 1994.
  • Peking University, Excellent Academic Award, 1993.
Invited Talks
  • Diffeomorphic Metric Matching with Applications in Medical Image Analysis, colloquium, Department of Mathematics,  Texas A & M University-Commerce,  October, 2009.

  • Diffeomorphic Metric Matching with Applications in Medical Image Analysis, Seminar, School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University, May 2009.

  • Diffeomorphic Matching of Diffusion Tensor Images, Seminar, Advanced Imaging   Research Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, July, 2007.

  • Program on the Geometry and Statistics of Shape Spaces, Statistical and Applied Mathematics Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, July 7-13, 2007.
  • EP Differentials Conference, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Center for nonlinea studies, Santa Fe, NM, July 24-28, 2006.
  • Colloquia, Department of Mathematics, West Virginia University, April 2006.
  • Seminar, Department of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, March 2006.
  • Special Applied Mathematics Pattern Theory Seminar, Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, October 2004.
  • Seminar, Center for Imaging Science, Johns Hopkins University, April 2003.
  • Colloquia, Department of Statistics, Florida State University, March 2003.

Funding

o Diffeomorphic Deformation of Textured Shapes with Applications in Medical Image Analysis
273,650 - NSF [2009–2012]
o Quantitative measurement of spinal cord perfusion in humans using MRI
63,891 - subcontract, NIH/UTSW (Lu) [2009–2011]