Research Seminar: “Some New Directions for Functional MRI”

Presented by John C. Gore, PhD, University Professor, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Talk Summary: Functional MRI is an essential tool for mapping brain function, while correlations between MRI signals in a resting state are interpreted as depicting functional connectivity between regions. Studies in non-human primates have proven useful to validate the basis of resting state fMRI, and to relate fMRI findings to neural electrical activities. Resting state correlations have also been discovered in spinal cord, and these change after an injury and so provide a biomarker of cord integrity. In white matter tracts, correlations between resting state MRI signals from adjacent voxels are anisotropic and reveal underlying functional tracts. These signals potentially provide new insights into information flow within the brain.
About the Speaker: John C. Gore, Ph.D., holds the Hertha Ramsey Cress Chair in Medicine and is a University Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Physics and Astronomy, and Mole cular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt University, where he also directs the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science. Dr. Gore obtained his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of London in the UK and also holds a degree in Law. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), the American Physical Society, the National Academy of Inventors and the Institute of Physics (UK). He is also a Distinguished Investigator of the Academy of Radiology Research. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Magnetic Resonance Imaging. He has been honored with several awards including the Gold Medal of the ISMRM (2004) for his contributions to the field of magnetic resonance imaging, the Earl Sutherland Award for Achievement in Research from Vanderbilt, and is an Honorary Professor at Zhejiang University in China. Dr. Gore founded the pioneering MRI research program at Hammersmith Hospital in the UK in the late 1970’s prior to establishing and directing the MRI research program at Yale University from 1982-2002. He moved to Vanderbilt in 2002 to establish the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science which has since grown to be one of the premier centers for imaging research in the world. He has published over 600 original papers and contributions within the medical imaging field. His research interests include the development and application of multimodal imaging methods for understanding tissue physiology and structure, molecular imaging and functional brain imaging. 

Hosted by Bradley Peterson, MD, Director, Institute for the Developing Mind, Interim Director, The Saban Research Institute, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

RSVP to tecpad@chla.usc.edu. For questions, please email Sandy Wang at sawang@chla.usc.edu.