Shu-Chi Yeh, Ph.D.

Professional Background

Dr. Yeh earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at McMaster University in 2015. Her Ph.D. research in Dr. Qiyin Fang’s laboratory was dedicated to developing machine learning and optical imaging techniques for automatic detection and treatment optimization in Barrett’s Esophagus cellular models. She started the first postdoctoral training in Prof. Giuseppe Intini’s lab at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and since then, she has been engaged in advancing intravital imaging technologies for studying bone and hematopoietic stem cells. She developed quantitative 3D bone histomorphometry in vivo to track skeletal stem cells for their roles in craniosynostosis and bone regeneration. Her work was recognized by the Dean’s Scholar Award and Outstanding Postdoctoral Award during the two-year fellowship. She then joined Dr. Charles Lin’s laboratory in the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital in 2017. In collaboration with Prof. Fernando Camargo at Boston Children’s Hospital, she developed intravital microscopy techniques to investigate bone remodeling and discovered heterogeneous bone turnover that is critical to focal expansion of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and acute myeloid leukemic cells. These findings led to some insightful follow-up investigations to understand the interplay between bone and the hematopoietic compartments, including the development of the first cell-resolution, quantitative calcium imaging for the bone marrow that uncovered varied extracellular calcium tied to bone remodeling and a high calcium ion concentration neighboring primitive HSCs. In Dr. Lin’s group, she has also participated in the research project using two-photon image-guided microbiopsy and orthotopic injection of cell clusters out of or into the bone marrow, a technology developed by Dr. Lin’s lab to allow spatially resolved transcriptomic profiling of the local bone marrow microenvironment. Her proposal to profile the vascular niche in multiple myeloma was recognized by receiving a Fund for Medical Discovery from MGH. She was later promoted to instructor in Harvard Medical School in 2020.

Research