Dr Tianruo Guo
- Ph.D. (Computational Neurophysiology and Biomedical Engineering, 2015), The University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052.
- Master of Philosophy (Cardiac Electrophysiology and Biomedical Engineering, 2011), The University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052.
- Bachelor of Engineering (Hons, Chemical Engineering and Automation, 2007), Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China.
Dr Tianruo Guo iscurrently a Lecturer of Neuromodulation and an Early Career Academic Fellow with the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, whereGuo lead a computational modelling teamdedicated to developing virtual nervous systems. His research focuses on studying neurophysiology and neural responses through both electrical and optogenetic stimulation. By integrating advanced computational techniques with experimental neuroscience, Dr. Guo is committed to unraveling the complex mechanisms of neuromodulation and advancing innovative approaches in bionic device design.
Guo pioneered the world-first simulation platform named "virtual human retina", for studying retinal degeneration and optimising stimulation strategies, providing enhanced artificial vision solutions. He uses computational models to guide his experimental investigations. In the last 10 years, Guo has gained extensive experience in recording electrophysiological signals from biological tissue, including the use of patch-clamping to record electrical activity in functionally-distinct retinal pathways.With this deep insight he has proposed a new stimulation scheme that allow different classes of retinal ganglion cells to be selectively excited. This has enormous potential in the design of visual prostheses as it will allow more realistic recreation of the visual scene – previously not possible with current state-of-the-art retinal neuroprostheses.
Guo has to date published 80+ peer-reviewed publications in the field of neural engineering, neurophysiology and bio-signal processing.His research has appeared in journals such asBrain StimulationԻJournal of Nanobiotechnology.He has also been awarded over AUD 1.8 million in research, infrastructureand education funding. In 2023, Guo served as co-chair of the publicity committee for EMBC2023, the world’s largest international conference in biomedical engineering organized by the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Guo also served as chair or co-chair for seven conference sessions at EMBC2018, 2023, and 2024.In 2024, he served as the topic editor for the special issue on "The Eye and The Chips" in the Journal of Neural Engineering.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
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UNSW Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor 3Rs, 2025-2026 An open-source virtual nervous system (CI-A, $73,231, RG245361).
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UNSW Neuroscience, Mental Health & Addiction Seed Funding, 2023Anti-inflammatory Effects of Abdominal Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Experimental IntestinalInflammation (CI-A, $39,890).
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Industry Grant, 2022-2024 Aprototype devicefor patient-tailored diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (CI-B, Euro€ 450,000).
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Industry Grant - Lixi Biological Products Co.,Ltd, 2024-2026Screening and detection of DNA and RNA molecules based on CRSPR technology: Detecting genetic biomarkers of chronic inflammatory diseases (CI-B, $10,000)
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UNSW Faculty Marketing Development and Alumni Committee (FMDAC) Fund, 2024Collateral for illustrating transdisciplinary impact of biomedical engineering (Lead CI, $48,000)
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The Royal Society International Exchanges Award, 2025-2026Uncovering visual coding of natural scenes in the retina (CI-B,£12,000, IES\R1\241312).
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UNSW - Tsinghua Collaborative Research Seed Fund, 2024Closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (Co-CI, $30,000)
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OCSE NSW Research Attraction and Acceleration Program - Conference Sponsorship Program, 2023 EMBC2023(Co-CI, $5,000)
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UNSW - Chinese Academy of Sciences Collaborative Research Mobility Grant, 2020 Developing next-generation neuromodulation techniques for the diseased retina (Co-CI, $5,000, RG192640).
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UNSW - Chinese Academy of Sciences Collaborative Research Bridging Grant, 2020 Paving the way for the next generation of retinal implants to treat blindness (Co-I, $50,000, RG192622).
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Australia-Germany Joint Research Co-operation Scheme (DAAD), 2019-2021Developing next generation bionic vision by 2020 (Co-CI, $23,500).
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Retina Australia, 2018, Improvingthe global acceptance of retinal prostheses: Assessing the influence of different stages of retinal degeneration on selective activation of retinal ganglion cells (Co-CI, $39,900, RG181282).
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Shanghai Jiao Tong University - UNSW Collaborative Research Fund Seed Grant, 2018 Optimizing the performance of retinal neuroprostheses with frequency modulation and electrical field shaping (Co-CI, $20,000, RG173376).
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Ian Potter Foundation Travel Grants, 2018Optimizing electrical stimulation parameters to improve the performance of retinal neuroprostheses (Sole CI, $6,000, RG181415).
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Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Travel Grants, 2015Selective activation of retinal neurons using artificial electrical stimulation (Sole CI, $6,000).
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UNSW RIS Research infrastructure scheme, 2025 Olympus evis x1 advanced endoscopy system(Co-CI, $104,000, RG245615).
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UNSW RIS Research infrastructure scheme, 2024A Laser Photocoagulation System for Precision Modelling Retinal and Ocular Pathologies(Co-CI, $104,225).
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UNSW RIS Research infrastructure scheme, 2023Samurai UV Marking/Micromachining System - Desktop Samurai System(Co-CI, $150,000).
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UNSW RIS Research infrastructure scheme, 2020High Resolution Preclinical Suite For Imaging and Functional Mapping of the Retina(Co-CI, $100,000, RG193879).
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UNSW RIS Research infrastructure scheme, 2019 High Resolution Preclinical Suite For Imaging and Functional Mapping of the Retina(Co-CI,$351,666,RG182783)
- UNSW Faculty of Engineering, Excellence Awards for HDR supervision (2024)
- Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference (ABEC), Best Poster Presentation Award (2018).
- Chinese Academy of Sciences Travel Grant (2015)
- PhD Scholarship in Excitable Tissue Computational Modelling (2011-2014)
- UNSW Postdoctoral Writing Fellowship Grant (2014)
- IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Student Paper Competition,Asia Pacific Finalist Award (2014)
- IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Student Paper Competition, Asia Pacific Finalist Award(2013)
- IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Student Paper Competition, Second Place (2013)
- Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference (ABEC), Best Presentation Award (2013).
- Australian Workshop on Computational Neuroscience,NeuroEng Student Prize (2013).
- Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference (ABEC) Travel Sponsorship (2013)
- Postgraduate Research Student Support Conference Travel Grant (2014)
- China Scholarship Council (CSC) National Scholarship for Outstanding Self-Funded Student Finalist (NSW division, 2014)
- UNSW Dean’s Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Research Finalist (2013)
My Research Supervision
The BOLD names indicate students or junior researchers I am currently supervising
- PhD student:
- Kirsty Lee (2025-now, Primary Supervisor)
- Keith Ly (2020-2023, Joint Supervisor) - UNSW Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Theses
- Yuyang Xie (2023-now, Secondary Supervisor)
- Gabriel Shen, Rosendo (2025-now, Secondary Supervisor) – UNSW Dean’s Honours List
- Madhuvanthi Muralidharan (2017-2021, Secondary Supervisor) - EMBS Student Paper Competition, Asia Pacific Finalist
- Peijun Qin (2024-now, Secondary Supervisor) – UIPA PhD Scholarship, China-Australia Young Professionals, Stephen Fitzgerald Scholars
- Michael Italiano (2021-now, Secondary Supervisor) - Baxter Family Scholarship, 2024 EMBC NextGen Scholar, 2024 Arc PGC Research Student Award Honourable Mentions
- Xiaoyu Song (2021- 2024 with SJTU, Mentor)
- Zhuofan Lu (2018-2022 with SJTU, Mentor)
- Meixuan Zhou (2023-nowwith SJTU, Mentor)
- Zhengyang Liu (2022-now with SJTU, Mentor)
- Chih Yu Yang (2017-2018, Mentor)
- MPhil student
- Saidong Ma (2023-2024, with SJTU, Mentor)
- Feng Zhou (2020-2022, with SJTU, Mentor)
- Jiao Liu (2022-2024, with SJTU, Mentor)
- Ning Wang (2018-2020, with SJTU, Mentor)
- Yimeng Ge (2018-2020, with SJTU, Mentor)
- Xintong Wang (2023-2024, with SJTU, Mentor)
- Wenji Yue (2022-2023, with SIAT, Mentor)
- Yike Cai (2022-2023, with HIT, Mentor)
- Project thesis undergraduate/postgraduate student
- Qihang Lin (2019-2020, Primary Supervisor)
- Peijun Qin (2022-2023, Primary Supervisor) - UNSW Outstanding Postgraduate Coursework Student Award
- Jackson Cai (2021-2022, Co-Supervisor)
- Mingsong Zha (2020-2021, Co-Supervisor)
- Jovita Rajesh Deodhar (2023, Co-Supervisor)
- Selena Chia (2023, Co-Supervisor) - UNSW Innovation Award for Industry Engagement
- Daniel Ng (2022-2023, Co-Supervisor)
- Jian Li (2023, Primary Supervisor) - UNSW GSBmE Award for Research Quality,TFSHDR Scholarship in 2025
- Rongfeng Wang (2023, Primary Supervisor) - TFSHDR Scholarship in 2025
- Ruier Xue (2023-2024, Co-Supervisor) – UIPA PhD Scholarship in 2025
- Abarnika Sivasamy (2024, Primary Supervisor)
- Ningjia Yao (2024, Primary Supervisor)
- Yifu Chen (2024, Primary Supervisor)
- Jiawen Han (2024, Primary Supervisor) - UNSW GSBmE Award for Research Quality
- Shijie Zhou (2024, Primary Supervisor)
- Wenyu Fu (2024, Co-Supervisor) - UNSW Innovation Award for Industry Engagement
- Dean Vidafar (2024-2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Peiji Cai (2024-2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Geliang Zhu (2024-2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Feiran Deng (2024-2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Haiyu Wang (2024-2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Jack Li (2024-2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Jie Wen (2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Andy Lin (2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Yumeng Wang (2025, Primary Supervisor)
- TiantianLiu (2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Yi Pan(2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Liyunuo Pi(2025, Primary Supervisor)
- Practicum exchange or taste of research student
- Jinyu Ji (2019, Mentor)
- Alexander Epps (2023-2024, Mentor)
- Postdoc:
- Dr Keith Ly (2022-2023)
- Dr Yang Liu (2024-now)
- Dr Laicong Qiao (2022)
- Dr Madhuvanthi Muralidharan (2021-2022)
- Dr Chih Yu Yang (2018)
- Dr Heng Li (with SJTU, 2022-now)
- Professional Staff:
- Marija Kordanovski (2022-2023)
- Wenxian Tang (2023)
- Yanan Huang (2022-2023)
- Laicong Qiao (2023)
- Sixiao Li (2023-now)
- Jonathan Williams (2023-now)
- Peiji Deng (2024)
- Priyanka Kuriakose (2024)
My Teaching
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Course Coordinator
- BIOM9610Bioelectronics and Physiological Measurement, UNSW (2025 - now)
- BIOM9701 Modelling Organs, Tissues and Devices, UNSW (2024 - now)
- BIOM9020/9021/9914 BIOM Postgraduate Thesis, UNSW (2022 - now)
- Instructor
- “Electrical Signals in Human Body”, Clinical Laboratory Science - BIOM9420, UNSW (2024 - now)
- “Computational Modelling of Bionics”, Bionics and Neuromodulation - BIOM9660, UNSW (2017 – 2023)
- “Excitable Tissue, Biopotentials and Electrodes”, Biomedical Instrumentation - BIOM9640, UNSW (2019 - 2023)
- "Computational Neurophysiology", Engineering in Medicine and Biology - BIOM1010 (2016)
- Guest Lecture
- “Visual Prostheses”, Neural Engineering - BME468, University of Rhode Island, US (2017 - now)
- “Bio-signals and Physical Equivalence”, Advancements in Biomedical Engineering-MM6124, University of Hong Kong (2024-now)
- “Computational Modelling in Therapeutic Devices”, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering I - BME3001, Chinese University of Hong Kong (2021)