Ashley Helmuth Fung

Mrs. Ashley Helmuth Fung

orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

2Years (2025-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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17 June 2026 in Nature Aging
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
TLTammy C. T. Lan
Tammy C. T. Lan
AKAlison Kochersberger
Alison Kochersberger
RRRuth Raichur
Ruth Raichur
SSSophia Szady
Sophia Szady
HTHien Tran
Hien Tran
HCHattie Chung
Hattie Chung
Throughout the female reproductive lifespan, the ovary undergoes hundreds of cycles of follicle development, ovulation and tissue regeneration. How aging disrupts the coordination of such precise, multicellular interactions across time and space is not well understood. Using Slide-seq, a near-cellular spatial transcriptomics method, here we profile 22 mouse ovaries across the reproductive cycle and chronological ages, capturing 610,620 spots across 69 spatial profiles. We develop a novel segmentation pipeline to examine the multicellular dynamics of 358 oocytes, 668 follicles and 236 corpora lutea to find that aging impairs the spatial and temporal coordination required for folliculogenesis even before reproductive cycles cease. These disruptions are characterized by altered immune cell dynamics, inflammatory signaling and global tissue disorganization, which impair the cyclic remodeling required for ovarian function. Our findings reveal how multicellular niches orchestrate ovarian function and demonstrate that age-related breakdown in tissue organization precedes the end of fertility.

7 April 2025 in Nanomaterials
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Anthony A. FungAnthony A. Fung
Anthony A. Fung
AFAshley Helmuth Fung
Ashley Helmuth Fung
ZLZhi Li
Zhi Li
Lingyan ShiLingyan Shi
Lingyan Shi
Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) nanoscopy imaging offers unprecedented insights into tissue molecular architecture but often requires stitching multiple high-resolution tiles to capture large fields of view. This process is time-consuming and frequently introduces vignetting artifacts—grid-like intensity fluctuations that degrade image quality and hinder downstream quantitative analyses and processing such as super-resolution deconvolution. We present VIgnetted Stitched-Tile Adjustment using Morphological Adaptive Processing (VISTAmap), a simple tool that corrects these shading artifacts directly on the final stitched image. VISTAmap automatically detects the tile grid configuration by analyzing intensity frequency variations and then applies sequential morphological operations to homogenize the image. In contrast to conventional approaches that require increased tile overlap or pre-acquisition background sampling, VISTAmap offers a pragmatic, post-processing solution without the need for separate individual tile images. This work addresses pressing concerns by delivering a robust, efficient strategy for enhancing mosaic image uniformity in modern nanoscopy, where the smallest details make tremendous impacts.

23 December 2025 in Nanomaterials
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Xinyu ChenXinyu Chen
Xinyu Chen
AFAshley Helmuth Fung
Ashley Helmuth Fung
GLGeorge Luka
George Luka
Anthony A. FungAnthony A. Fung
Anthony A. Fung
Recent advances in nanomaterials have profoundly transformed the landscape of biomedical imaging and analytical detection. By leveraging unique physical, chemical, and optical properties at the nanoscale, these materials enable unprecedented sensitivity, resolution, and specificity in both in vitro and in vivo applications. An analysis of the nanomaterials topic collection in Web of Science reveals that although biomedical imaging is not the most dominant domain in the nanomaterials field, it is rapidly growing across many disciplines and applications, including super-resolution nanoscopy, spatial sequencing technology, and immunology. Based on citation network topology and high-level topic modeling, we highlight recent advances in signal enhancement, targeted specificity, and mechanical innovations across multiple modalities, including optical imaging, contrast MRI, cytometry, and spatial sequencing.