Presenter

Yingchen He is an Assistant Professor in the Human Factors and Applied Cognition Program at the Department of Psychology. She has been at NC State since 2020, directing the Translational Vision Research Lab. She completed her undergraduate study at Beijing University in China (major: Biological Sciences and Psychology), and obtained her Ph.D. degree in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Her Ph.D. work focused on understanding the sensory and cognitive constraints limiting reading performance, and designing training protocols to improve reading speed (especially for people with visual impairments). After graduation, she received postdoctoral training at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences at the University of Minnesota. Working with a retina surgeon, she studied the brain plasticity of blind individuals who have partially regained sight through retinal implants. She also conducted objective evaluation of their functional vision, and collaborated with industrial partners to optimize the function the retinal implants.

Dr. He’s work is at the intersection of cognitive psychology, engineering, and health. At the basic science level, her work addresses fundamental questions about visual processing and the impact of eye diseases on it. At the practical level, she applies her knowledge to understand the vision-related human factors in the design of training protocols and assistive technologies, providing solutions to overcome vision loss.