Talks and presentations
Invited Talks
AI Foundation Models in Neuroimaging. AI in Psychiatry Seminar, McLean Hospital, May 2026.
SuperBigFLICA: code modifications and applications. The 2nd meeting of the users’ committee for the NWO-VICI project “Big data for precision neuroscience: new tools for brain connectopics”, Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (DCCN), Nijmegen, Netherlands & virtual, May 2025.
Leveraging unsupervised learning on EHRs to characterize heterogeneity across Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias. Mayo Clinic Machine Deep Learning (MLDL) Journal Club, virtual, March 2025.
Deep learning clinical, cognitive, and neuroimaging phenotypes from the MGH Memory Disorder Unit (MDU) patients. MGH Memory Disorder Unit (MDU) Conference, virtual, May 2023.
Predicting AD status with brain morphometry: Utilizing cerebrospinal fluid as a biomarker. Joint UCSF/MGH REC Scholars Program Event, virtual, April 2023.
A unique graduation journey—graduate student spotlight. UCI Cognitive Sciences Association, Nov. 2021.
Finding the compass: Head direction signals in the human brain. UCI Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM) Awards Ceremony, May 2021.
Oral Presentations
Evidence for a distributed head direction and travel trajectory system in the human brain during active navigation. Society for Neuroscience (SfN), San Diego, Nov. 2022.
Sex differences in head direction signals when learning a complex environment. Neuromatch 4.0, Dec. 2021.
Head direction signals during navigation. Spring Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM) Conference—Memory: It’s About Time, May 2021.
The emergence of head direction signals in human navigation. University of California, Irvine Associated Graduate Students (AGS) Symposium, Virtual, April 2021. Audience Choice Award.
Travel direction as a fundamental component of human navigation. Neuromatch 3.0, Virtual, Oct. 2020.
Travel direction as a fundamental component of human navigation. Interdisciplinary Navigation Symposium (iNAV), Virtual, Oct. 2020.
What are the sex differences in navigation training? Using the sea hero quest dataset. UCSB Crossroads Symposium, Santa Barbara, Nov. 2019.
Domain-general distance representation. UCSB Geography Department Colloquium, Santa Barbara, May 2019.
From individual cognitive maps to a collective cognitive map: Prescriptive guidelines. Collective Spatial Cognition Specialist Meeting, Santa Barbara, April 2019.
Left hand, right hand. 2018 Spatial Lightning Talks, UCSB Center for Spatial Studies, Feb. 2018.
Mixed time-based and event-based prospective memory: A behavioral study. The 16th National Academic Congress of Psychology, Nanjing, China, Nov. 2013.
Select Poster Presentations (2024–2026)
Cheng, Y., Medina, A., Korponay C., Harper, D., Nickerson, L. Investigating the Amyloid-Tau-Neurodegeneration Framework in Alzheimer’s Disease Using Semi-Supervised Multimodal Imaging Data Fusion. Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting (SOBP), New York, May 2026.
Hannon, K., Cheng, Y., Cohen-Gilbert, J., Korponay, C., Harnett, N., Kumar, P., Silveri, M., Nickerson, L. Structural-Functional Covariance Patterns of Alcohol Use. Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting (SOBP), New York, May 2026.
Korponay, C., Cohen-Gilbert, J. E., Kumar, P., Harnett, G., Medina, A., Cheng, Y., Forester, B., Ressler, K., Demsar, J., Frederick, B., Beckmann, C., Harper, D., Nickerson, L. Divergence of task fMRI- and mental-health-derived biotypes. McLean Research Day, Belmont, MA, 2026.
Hannon, K., Cheng, Y., Cohen-Gilbert, J., Korponay, C., Harnett, N., Kumar, P., Silveri, M., Nickerson, L. Structural Covariance Patterns of Alcohol Use. McLean Research Day, Belmont, MA, 2026.
Cheng, Y., Medina, A., Korponay C., Harper, D., Nickerson, L. Multi-modal neuroimaging fusion reveals predictive patterns of affective symptoms and hyperactivity in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), Toronto, July 2025. Neuropsychiatric Syndromes PIA Best Postdoctoral Poster Award.
Cheng, Y., Medina, A., Korponay C., Harper, D., Nickerson, L. Multi-modal neuroimaging fusion reveals predictive patterns of affective symptoms and hyperactivity in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Imaging Consortium Preconference (AIC), Toronto, July 2025.
Cheng, Y., Medina, A., Korponay C., Cohen-Gilbert J., Kumar, P., Harper, D., Nickerson, L. Interaction between neuropsychiatric symptoms and hippocampal volume deviations predicts brain amyloid status in aging adults. Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting (SOBP), Toronto, Apr. 2025.
Medina, A., Korponay, C., Cheng, Y., Cohen-Gilbert, J., Kumar, P., Harper, D., Nickerson, L. Cognitive function, neuropsychiatric symptoms and deviations from normative brain network structure in treatment-resistant depression. Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting (SOBP), Toronto, Apr. 2025.
Cohen-Gilbert, J., Korponay, C., Kumar, P., Medina, A., Cheng, Y., Harper, D., Nickerson, L. Large-scale network states associated with reward processing during the Human Connectome Project’s incentive processing task. Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting (SOBP), Toronto, Apr. 2025.
Cheng, Y., Medina, A., Korponay C., Cohen-Gilbert J., Kumar, P., Harper, D., Nickerson, L. Interaction between neuropsychiatric symptoms and hippocampal volume deviations predicts brain amyloid status in aging adults. McLean Research Day, Belmont, Jan. 2025.
Starrett Ambrose, M., Cheng, Y., Davis, R., Chrastil, E.R. Abstract relational distance coding in the human brain. Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) Annual Meeting, Boston, March 2025.
Cheng, Y., Gopinath K., Billot, B., Iglesias, JE., Kivisakk Webb P., Chao-Yi W., Dodge H., Hyman B., Arnold S., Das S. Association of brain MRI signatures with Alzheimer’s disease CSF biomarkers. Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), Philadelphia, July 2024.
Amini, S., Cheng, Y., Magdamo, C., Paschalidis, I., Das, S. From normal cognition to dementia: Using natural language processing to identify cognitive stages leveraging electronic health records. Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), Philadelphia, July 2024.
Open Science, Data Science, and Academic Transparency
I also apply data science to open-science and academic-workforce questions, including collaborative work on transparency, equity, and resilience in the biomedical faculty job market. This work reflects my broader commitment to using computational tools to make scientific systems more interpretable and transparent.
Smith, C., Cheng, Y., Hagan, A., Kozik, A., Haage, A., Jadavji, N. Towards a more humane process: Learning from the experiences of applicants on the faculty job market. National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, 2026.
Haage, A., Cheng, Y., Hagan, A., Kozik, A., Smith, C., Jadavji, N. Longitudinal insights from the faculty job market collaboration. Cell Bio 2025, Philadelphia, PA.
Flynn, B., Cheng, Y., Hagan, A., Kozik, A., Mollet, A., Smith, C., Haage, A., Jadavji, N. Increasing Transparency in the Academic Job Market. National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, 2024.