IoO Research Excellence Award: Dr Yukun Zhou

We talked to Dr Yukun Zhou, the recipient of the 2024 IoO Research Excellence Award.

Yukun Zhou

  •  How long have you been at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and what is your area of expertise?

I have been working as a research fellow at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology since January 2024. Prior to that, I completed my PhD training at the UCL Centre for Medical Image Computing, with my second supervisor, Professor Pearse Keane, who is based at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. My research expertise lies in medical foundation models, medical image analysis, and translational projects involving large-scale clinical data.

  • What aspect of your work most excites you and why?

For me, the most exciting and motivating aspect of my work is its potential to transform healthcare and clinical practice. The ultimate aim of my research is to improve public healthcare outcomes. Seeing my work contribute to enhancing disease diagnosis accuracy or enabling new applications through innovative techniques reinforces the value and impact of my research.

  • What are the applications of medical artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of ophthalmology?

Medical AI holds tremendous potential for diverse applications in ophthalmology, including ocular disease diagnosis, disease prognosis, risk stratification, and predicting and recommending treatment outcomes. For instance, the work of Fauw et al. demonstrated how AI can be applied to segment disease lesions and provide referral recommendations (Clinically applicable deep learning for diagnosis and referral in retinal disease, DoI: 10.1038/s41591-018-0107-6) 

  • What is RETFound?

It’s a new foundation model for retinal images. It addresses the need for meticulous and comprehensive data annotation, which is both time-consuming and resource-intensive for NHS and university research teams. RETFound learns from unlabelled retinal images and can be adapted for numerous applications. This AI system, which is freely accessible, is set to become a cornerstone in global efforts to detect and treat blindness using AI. We developed this model in a research study published in Nature, and led by myself alongside Professor Pearse Keane, and Professor Daniel Alexander from UCL Department of Computer Science.

  • What are your upcoming research plans?

My future research will focus on developing novel and optimised methodologies for medical foundation models to further enhance their generalisability, robustness, fairness, and equity. Additionally, I plan to explore the translation of these methodologies into other medical domains to broaden their impact.

  • What advice would you give to students who are interested in pursuing research in your field?

This is a highly dynamic and collaborative field where advancements occur rapidly. To succeed, it’s crucial to actively learn new concepts and engage with the research community to stay at the forefront. I also strongly recommend developing strong engineering and implementation skills early on, as these are essential for driving progress in this area.

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Dr Yukun Zhou (centre) receiving the IoO Research Excellence Award from Professor Catherine Bowes Rickman (right) from Duke University School of Medicine and Dr Giulia Rossi (left) during the IoO ECR Symposium 2024.