Two Postdoc Positions in Computational Psychiatry are Available!
Two PhD Student Positions are Available!.
Please click the links above or contact me for details: bcao2@ualberta.ca.
Trained in mathematics (BSc), psychology (MSc), computational neuroscience (PhD), neuroimaging and psychiatry (postdoc), I have a strong passion for understanding the fundamental mechanisms of how the brain works and how to cure the brain when the mechanisms are disturbed. As the Canada Research Chair in Computational Psychiatry (Tier 2), I am always seeking young talents to work with as graduate students (Masters and PhD) and postdoctoral fellows, who are interested in data-driven research in mental health using multimodal neuroimaging, genetic, cognition, electronic health and administrative data. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in joining our interdisciplinary group or collaborations.
My main research interests are
1) Computational psychiatry and precision medicine in mental health. Dr. Cao aims to develop translational tools that can provide accurate and personalized diagnosis and treatment optimization for mental disorders. This can be achieved by identifying objective biomarkers associated with mental disorders and their treatment outcomes through multimodal data including brain imaging, genetic, biological, behavioral, cognitive and clinical measurements, and by applying advanced machine learning and statistical algorithms to these data. He is also actively working on machine learning applications on large electronic health records in Canada, China and US.
2) Brain development and aging. Our brain is a very plastic organ that changes over the lifespan. It is necessary to consider the brain development and aging and associated cognitive change, when we investigate brain disorders. Dr. Cao is interested in lifespan structural and functional changes of the brain, developing personalized tools of brain development and aging, and applying these tools to the brain with mental disorders.
3) Neuromodulation and neurofeedback. Dr. Cao is collaborating with multiple investigators to develop and validate non-invasive neuromodulation and neurofeedback methods and their application to mental health.
Selected Publications
Bo Cao, Raymond Y. Cho, Dachun Chen, Meihong Xiu, Jair C. Soares, Li Wang, Xiang Yang Zhang (2018). Treatment response prediction and individualized identification of first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia using brain functional connectivity. Molecular Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1038/s41380-018-0106-5.
Bo Cao, Qinghua Luo, Yixiao Fu, Lian Du, Tian Qiu, Xiangying Yang, Xiaolu Chen, Qibin Chen, Jair C Soares, Raymond Y Cho, Xiang Yang Zhang, Haitang Qiu (2018). Predicting individual responses to the electroconvulsive therapy with hippocampal subfield volumes in major depression disorder. Scientific Reports, Article Number: 5434 (2018). DOI:10.1038/S41598-018-23685-9.
Bo Cao, Ives Cavalcante Passos, Benson Mwangi, Henrique Tomaz Do Amaral Silva, Jonika Tannous, Mon-Ju Wu, Giovana B. Zunta-Soares, Jair C. Soares (2017). Hippocampal subfield volumes in mood disorders. Molecular Psychiatry, 22, 1352-1358, DOI:10.1038/Mp.2016.262.
Lianne Schmaal et al. (2017). Cortical abnormalities in adults and adolescents with major depression based on brain scans from 20 cohorts worldwide in the ENIGMA major depressive disorder working group. Molecular Psychiatry, 22 (6), 900.
Bo Cao, Benson Mwangi, Ives Cavalcante Passos, Mon-Ju Wu, Zafer Keser, Giovana B. Zunta-Soares, Dianping Xu, Khader M. Hasan, Jair C. Soares (2017). Lifespan gyrification trajectory of human brain in healthy individuals and patients with major psychiatric disorders. Scientific Reports, 7, Article Number: 511, DOI:10.1038/S41598-017-00582-1.
Bo Cao, Benson Mwangi, Khader M. Hasan, Sudhakar Selvaraj, Cristian P. Zeni, Giovana B. Zunta-Soares, Jair C. Soares (2015). Development and validation of a brain maturation index using longitudinal neuroanatomical scans. Neuroimage, 2015 Aug 15; 117:311-8. DOI: 10.1016/J.Neuroimage.2015.05.071.