Yike Zhang, Ph.D.

Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
M.S., St. Mary’s University
B.E., Chengdu Neusoft University

Engineering Project Management
Machine Learning

Programming
Deep Learning
Computer Vision
Large Language Model
Image-Guided Surgery
Development of Open-Source Software
Developing Large Language Models for Healthcare
Tackling Education-Related Challenges

Yike Zhang’s research focuses on LLM, computer vision, image processing and surgical navigation systems. She recently completed her Ph.D. in Computer Science at Vanderbilt University, where she developed a deep-learning-enhanced intraoperative navigation system for image-guided cochlear implant surgery.

Her work bridges machine learning and medical imaging processing, aiming to improve surgical accuracy, safety and future clinical translation with real-time image analysis and intraoperative navigation tools. Beyond research, she is passionate about mentoring students, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and creating open-source tools that support the wider medical imaging processing community.

She has published numerous papers in journals and conferences such as Medical Imaging with Deep Learning and IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology. She has reviewed papers for journals and conferences, such as IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, Neural Networks, Applied Intelligence, ICLR, IJCAI, MICCAI, ISBI and BMVC.

SSDD-GAN: Single-Step Denoising Diffusion GAN for Cochlear Implant Surgical Scene Completion. Yike Zhang, Eduardo Davalos and Jack Noble. Accepted to Medical Imaging with Deep Learning 2025

LLMs as Educational Analysts: Transforming Multimodal Data Traces into Actionable Reading Assessment Reports. Eduardo Davalos, Yike Zhang, Namrata Srivastava, Jorge Alberto Salas, Sara McFadden, Sun-Joo Cho, Gautam Biswas and Amanda Goodwin. International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education. AIED 2025.

Self-supervised Mamba-based Mastoidectomy Shape Prediction for Cochlear Implant Surgery. Yike Zhang, Eduardo Davalos, Dingjie Su, Ange Lou and Jack Noble. Medical Imaging 2025: Image Processing

Zero-shot Surgical Tool Segmentation in Monocular Video using Segment Anything Model 2. Ange Lou*, Li Yamin*, Yike Zhang*, Robert F. Labadie and Jack Noble. Medical Imaging 2025: Image Processing

Surgical Depth Anything: Depth Estimation for Surgical Scenes using Foundation Models. Ange Lou, Li Yamin, Yike Zhang and Jack Noble. Medical Imaging 2025: Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling

A First Step in Using Machine Learning Methods to Enhance Interaction Analysis for Embodied Learning Environments. Joyce Fonteles, Eduardo Davalos, TS Ashwin, Yike Zhang, Mengxi Zhou, Efrat Ayalon, Alicia Lane, Selena Steinberg, Gabriella Anton, Joshua Danish, Noel Enyedy and Gautam Biswas. International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education

Chimerapy: A Scientific Distributed Streaming Framework for Real-time Multimodal Data Retrieval and Processing. Eduardo Davalos, Umesh Timalsina, Yike Zhang, Jiayi Wu, Joyce Horn Fonteles and Gautam Biswas. IEEE International Conference on Big Data (BigData)

Vector-based Efficient Data Hiding in Encrypted Images via Multi-MSB Replacement. Yike Zhang and Wenbin Luo. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology