Principal Investigator

Previous Positions

• 2000-2001 Research Assistant, Laboratory of Dr. Chiang-Shan Ray Li, Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan

• 2002-2006 Graduate Student, Laboratory of Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, Department of Neurobiology, Duke University

• 2006-2009 Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratory of Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, Department of Neurobiology, Duke University

• 2009-2017 Tenure Track Investigator, Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA

• 2017 Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA

Honors and Special Scientific Recognition

• 1991 Research Science Institute (RSI) Summer Camp, Washington, DC

• 1992 Bronze Medal, 33rd International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

• 1992-2000 Four times Presidential Award, National Taiwan University

• 1999 Harvard Medical School Exchange Student, Clinical rotations

• 2002 HHMI Predoctoral Fellowship, Neuroscience, Honorable mention

• 2008 NARSAD 2008 Young Investigator Award

• 2009 Pathway to Independence (K99/R00) Award, NIMH, NIH (*Declined due to accepting the investigator position at the NIA, NIH)

• 2010 NARSAD 2010 Young Investigator Award

• 2014 European Neurasmus Scholar

• 2014 NIH Graduate Partnerships Program Outstanding Mentor Award

• 2016 Post Baccalaureate Distinguished Mentor Award, NIA, NIH

• 2017 Promoted to Tenured Senior Investigator at NIA, NIH

• 2019 Shackleton Scholar, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan

Past Grants and Research Support

1. PI: “The roles of basal forebrain neuronal ensembles in top-down attention.” NARSAD 2008 Young Investigator Award (2008-2009)

2. PI: “The roles of basal forebrain neuronal ensemble in top-down attention.“ NIMH/NIH (K99/R00) (2009-2014) ** Declined the award in order to accept a tenure track investigator position at the National Institute on Aging, NIH

3. PI: “Neural circuit mechanisms of top-down attention.” NARSAD 2010 Young Investigator Award (2011-2013)

4. PI: “Non-cholinergic basal forebrain neurons and neurocognitive aging.” NIA Intramural Research Program, NIH (2009-2017)

5. PI: “The roles of basal forebrain neuronal ensembles in top-down attention.” NIA Intramural Research Program, NIH (2009-2017)

6. PI: “The role of basal forebrain in temporal expectation”, MOST, Taiwan (2018-2020) (terminated in 2019)

7. PI: “Reward prediction error signal in the basal forebrain”, MOST, Taiwan (2018-2021) (terminated in 2019)

8. PI: "Attention and Reward Signals in Noncholinergic Basal Forebrain Neurons", Shackleton Scholar Program, MOST, Taiwan (2019-2021)