معرفی
Yu Cao, Ph.D., is a tenured full professor at the Miner School of Computer & Information Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he also serves as Director of the UMass Center for Digital Health. His academic journey includes faculty positions at The University of Tennessee (2010-2013) and California State University (2007-2010), followed by a Visiting Fellowship at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Cao holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Iowa State University (2007), where he also earned his M.S. (2005), along with an M.Eng. from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (2000) and a B.Eng. from Harbin Engineering University (1997), all in Computer Science.
His educational background includes:
- Visiting Fellow, Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic (2007)
- Ph.D., Computer Science, Iowa State University (2007)
- M.S., Computer Science, Iowa State University (2005)
- M.Eng., Computer Science, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China (2000)
- B.Eng., Computer Science, Harbin Engineering University, China (1997)
Dr. Cao's research spans multiple domains of knowledge discovery from complex data, with particular focus on Medical Imaging, Multimodal Deep Learning, Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Health. His work emphasizes intelligent, multi-modal, and data-intensive medical image analysis and retrieval; motion tracking, analyzing, and visualization; and intelligent data analysis for electronic medical records and pervasive healthcare monitoring. His research program has produced over 150 peer-reviewed publications with more than 8,000 citations and an h-index of 40+, appearing in top venues including IEEE CVPR, IJCAI, ICLR, ACM MM, and IEEE ICME, as well as prestigious journals like IEEE TNNLS, TBME, TPAMI, TSC, and JBHI.
Analysis of Dr. Cao's recent publications reveals a strong focus on applying deep learning techniques to medical imaging problems, particularly in endoscopy and diagnostic imaging. His work spans multiple subfields including polyp detection in colonoscopy videos, tuberculosis detection in chest X-rays, diabetic retinopathy analysis, and food recognition systems for dietary assessment. The publications demonstrate a consistent pattern of applying cutting-edge AI techniques to solve practical healthcare challenges, with increasing emphasis on multimodal approaches and real-world deployment considerations.
Dr. Cao has received numerous accolades for his work, including Best Paper Awards from ACM/IEEE CHASE (2023), IEEE IJCNN (2020), and IEEE NAS (2015). His paper was the most downloaded from Smart Health Journal by Elsevier (2017-2018), and he was recognized for having the highest number of peer-reviewed publications among faculty members in the College of Sciences (2017-2018). He was named a Senior Member of IEEE in 2013, an honor granted to only 8% of IEEE members worldwide.
His research has been supported by dozens of NSF/NIH/Industry sponsored grants totaling approximately $10 million. Notable projects include NIH/NSF Award #1R01EB021900 ($1.29 million) as Principal Investigator, NSF Award #1547428 ($500,000) as Co-PI, and NSF Award #1541434 ($1 million) as Co-PI. Dr. Cao has successfully mentored numerous graduate and undergraduate students, with current advisees working on medical image retrieval, data analysis for body sensor networks, and motion tracking and visualization. He has served on organizing committees for over 30 international conferences and workshops, demonstrating strong leadership in the academic community.
As Director of the UMass Center for Digital Health, Dr. Cao leads a multidisciplinary team focused on developing innovative solutions for healthcare challenges using digital technologies. His lab maintains active collaborations with medical institutions including Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, and Erlanger Hospital, facilitating the translation of research findings into clinical practice. The center's work spans multiple research areas including medical video/image analysis, motion tracking and visualization, context-aware data analysis for body area sensor networks, and risk analysis for acute coronary syndromes.
