At the 2025 Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) held recently in Hawaii, USA, Qiu Yueqi, a 2022 Ph.D. candidate from Shanghai Jiao Tong University's (SJTU) School of Biomedical Engineering, was honored with the Prince-Meaney Translational Science Award under the Young Investigator Award, becoming the sole global recipient of this year's prize.

2026 ISMRM president (right) presents the award to Qiu.

Led by Professor Zhang Zhiyong at SJTU, the research team involving Qiu surpassed global institutions including Stanford University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to secure this award. Their winning paper is titled "Spatiotemporal Encoding MRI in a Portable Low Field System".

The Prince-Meaney Translational Science Award represents the highest honor in translational research for magnetic resonance fundamental science awarded by ISMRM. As one of three subcategories under the Young Investigator Award, it recognizes globally impactful breakthrough research with exceptional clinical value. This marks the first time Chinese scientific achievements have received this distinction, showcasing SJTU's leading position in medical-engineering interdisciplinary research and China's critical advancements in core medical equipment technology.

The pioneering research developed a Spatiotemporal Encoding (SPEN) acquisition method specifically for portable low-field MRI devices without multi-channel parallel acceleration. Compared to traditional Echo-Planar Imaging (EPI) techniques, SPEN demonstrates significantly reduced geometric distortion in undersampled images. These findings were published in the authoritative journal Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. The team further showcased innovative expansions of SPEN technology in their award report, advancing low-field MRI development and providing crucial technical support for clinical translation of portable MRI systems. The technology has completed SJTU's scientific achievement transfer and successfully incubated a startup focused on portable low-field MRI systems.

The journal Magnetic Resonance in Medicine releases an inclusive interview with Qiu.

Qiu Yueqi enrolled at SJTU's School of Biomedical Engineering in 2018. During her undergraduate studies, she demonstrated outstanding academic performance and research potential, winning the Shanghai Division First Prize in the National Mathematical Contest in Modeling and SJTU Outstanding Graduate awards. Beyond academia, she excelled as a passionate debater and participated actively in social practice and volunteer services.

Inspired by Professor Zhang Zhiyong's lectures on magnetic resonance imaging, she committed to the challenging field of low-field MRI research. Her doctoral journey began with assembling the first portable low-field MRI system in dim basement laboratories, where persistent circuit debugging and component assembly finally yielded the first interference-free clear image. To date, she has published three first-author papers in leading MRI journals and delivered multiple oral presentations at ISMRM conferences as an active society member.

Zhang (left) works with Qiu (right) and another team member to assemble the MRI system.

Qiu's research team is currently exploring broader applications of low-field MRI through interdisciplinary collaboration with Professor Jiang Fan's team at the Shanghai Children's Medical Center, applying portable low-field MRI systems and novel imaging techniques to pediatric brain development research. Future efforts will focus on integrating SPEN technology with artificial intelligence and precision medicine to enhance diagnostic efficacy of portable MRI and pioneer new approaches for early intervention in critical diseases.

Source: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, VOC