Many congratulations to Kristina Zvolanek, who successfully defended her PhD in Biomedical Engineering on January 9! Her thesis, entitled Novel functional MRI approaches for mapping cerebrovascular hemodynamics in sickle cell disease, addresses critical gaps in understanding cerebrovascular complications in pediatric sickle cell disease. Her work has developed innovative functional MRI approaches to measure cerebrovascular reactivity and circulation time, creating new pathways for investigating hemodynamics in this vulnerable population.

As a founding member of the Bright Lab, Kristina has been instrumental in shaping lab culture, demonstrating incredible leadership, exceptional mentorship, and scientific rigor. Her contributions will continue to shape our ongoing projects and future work. We are incredibly proud of her and will miss her greatly, but we wish her the best of luck in her new role as a consultant with Beghou Consulting. Congratulations, Dr. Zvolanek!