Our research uses advanced MRI techniques to assess the interaction of neural activity and vascular physiology in healthy brains and neurological pathology.

This involves the design and implementation of tools to stimulate or monitor human physiology during MRI scanning, and the development of specialized MRI acquisition methods to characterize neuro-vascular function in the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord. In combination with bespoke signal processing pipelines developed in our lab, we aim to produce robust quantitative imaging biomarkers for studying stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and the response of individual patients to personalized therapeutic interventions.

This work is in collaboration with Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Radiology, the Center for Translational Imaging, the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience program, and the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab.