Elisa Guma & The Communications CommitteeInterview with Prof. Janaina Mourao-Miranda, winner of the 2023 Education in Neuroimaging Award  At the 2023 annual OHBM meeting, Prof. Janaina Mourao-Miranda received the Education in Neuroimaging Award for her significant contribution to education and training in the field of neuroimaging. Prof. Mourao-Miranda leads the Machine Learning Neuroimaging Lab at the Centre for Medical Imaging Computing (CMIC) in the Computer Science Department at the University College London (UCL). Prof. Mourao-Miranda received her bachelor’s in Electronic Engineering at Federal university of Para (Brazil). She then pursued a MSc in Computer Science and a Ph.D in Neuroscience at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Next, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Neural Computation at Siemens, Munich, Germany followed by one at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, London. After her second postdoctoral experience she was awarded two prestigious Wellcome Trust fellowships (Research Career Development and Senior Research) which enabled her to establish a research group at UCL.
Her group applies pattern recognition and machine learning to neuroimaging data with the goal of uncovering the relationship between brain and behaviour. One of the goals of her research program is to develop novel machine learning models to investigate the complex relationships between neuroimaging data and multidimensional descriptions of mental health disorder in hopes of improving understanding, diagnosis, and prognosis for these conditions. We had the pleasure of asking Prof. Mourao-Miranda a few questions about her work, research trajectory, and any advice she has for junior trainees. Read on to learn more! You can also check out our previous interview with Prof. Mourao-Miranda showcasing her OHBM 2022 Keynote lecture here.
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Elisa Guma & the communications committeeInterview with Dr. Catie Chang, 2023 Early Career Investigator Awardee  At the 2023 Organization for Human Brain Mapping annual meeting, held in Montreal, several outstanding scientists were recognized for their contributions to the field. Dr. Catie Chang was awarded the Early Career Investigator Award for her significant contributions to the field of human brain mapping. Dr. Chang is a Sally and Dave Hopkins Faculty Fellow and an Assistant Professor in the departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Vanderbilt University. She received her BSc in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, after which she pursued an MSc and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in the Radiological Sciences Lab. Next, she completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH Intramural Research Program).
Her lab fosters a highly interdisciplinary and collaborative research environment, bringing together scientists with expertise in engineering, computer science, neuroscience, psychology, and medicine. Together, they focus on advancing functional neuroimaging methods to increase the understanding of human brain activity in health and disease. More precisely, using fMRI and EEG, they focus on understanding how time-varying changes in brain function relate to physiological and cognitive processes. We had the pleasure of asking Dr. Chang a few questions about her work, research trajectory, and any advice she has for junior trainees. Read on to learn more! Elisa Guma & the Communications CommitteeCongratulations to the OHBM 2023 award winners . Each year, the Organization for Human Brain Mapping recognizes members of the field of human brain imaging for their outstanding contributions to the field. We would like to congratulate this year’s awardees, who were recognized at the 2023 OHBM Annual Meeting.
Over the next few weeks we will be showcasing their contributions to the field through a series of blog posts. The award recipients are listed below: Kangjoo Lee, Lucina Q. Uddin, Rosanna Olsen on behalf of the OHBM Diversity and Inclusivity Committee Overview of DIC committee 2023-2024 election procedure and results The Diversity and Inclusivity Committee (DIC) at OHBM is dedicated to cultivating a diverse, engaged and inclusive international community of scientists conducting human brain research. To achieve this goal, DIC members collaborate to formulate a comprehensive plan to promote inclusivity across OHBM’s activities. The DIC’s approach involves investigating and implementing best practices suggested by current research on fostering inclusive environments. The committee develops new policies and programs aimed at creating a more inclusive environment, including leadership, education, and mentorship. These efforts are conducted in close collaboration with other OHBM committees and Special Interest Groups. Comprising 9-15 members, including the Chair and Chair-Elect, the DIC plays a pivotal role in shaping OHBM’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity. In the autumn of 2023, the DIC conducted two significant elections to further advance its mission.
Authors: Winson Yang, Irene Faiman, Peer Herholz, Nick Souter, Nikhil Bhagwat & Polona Kalc on behalf of the SEA-SIG |
 | The primary mission of the OHBM Women Faculty Special Interest Group (WF-SIG) is to help women principal investigators (PIs) connect and network with each other. Peer-to-peer networking is an effective, low-cost intervention that encourages female neuroscientists to collaborate in cross-disciplinary teams and overcome gender-related challenges (1). Our official in-person launch event at this year's annual OHBM meeting marks the first step towards connecting and empowering women-led research teams in the neuroimaging community. Logo Design: Jingyuan Chen, Arts Officer At the launch event, we unveiled the new logo that was crafted for the OHBM Women Faculty SIG by our Arts Officer, Dr. Jingyuan Chen (Assistant Professor, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging). |
Naomi Gaggi
Scientific writing workshop by Bradley Voytek, hosted by the SP-SIG
On April 27th, 2023, OHBM’s Student–Postdoc Special Interest Group hosted a workshop on best practices in scientific writing with Dr. Bradley Voytek. Dr. Voytek is a Professor in the Department of Cognitive Science, the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, and the Neurosciences Graduate Program at UC San Diego. He is a strong advocate for science communication and outreach, and he has engaged with audiences as diverse as Scientific American, National Public Radio, and San Diego Comic-Con. The event covered a range of topics related to scientific writing, the different forms of scientific outreach, and ways to frame our scientific work for communicating with the public. Overall, there were three main takeaways from his talk: 1) practice communicating your science and engaging different audiences, 2) embrace your journey, and 3) find your niche, have fun with your work, and dive right in!
Communications Committee Lay Media team
Invitation to public events on brain imaging science (English and French language)
On Tuesday, July 18, local neuroscientists from Quebec universities will speak about the fascinating research on brain imaging. Talks will be delivered in English and French, and are free to the general public.
More details are provided below. You are invited to attend and to share this invitation with anyone who might be interested in this event.
Place: Grande Bibliothèque (475 Boul. de Maisonneuve E, Montréal, at Berri-UQAM metro station)
Date: Tuesday July 18, 2023
Time (talks in French): 6:00 pm (doors open at 5:30 pm)
Time (talks in English): 8:00 pm (doors open at 7:30 pm)
Tickets: free, but limited numbers available! Register quickly using the link below.
Register for French lectures: imagerieducerveau.eventbrite.ca
Register for English lectures: brainimaging.eventbrite.ca
Talks are aimed at the general public, and for each language session, there will be three talks of around 20 minutes, along with a Q&A session after.
Talks in English will be given by:
Dr. Alan Evans (A hitch-hiker's guide to mapping the brain)
Dr. Emily Coffey (Altering sleep and memory with sound)
Dr. Robert Zatorre (The neuroscience of music and why we love it)
Talks in French will be given by:
Dr. Sylvain Baillet (Tempête dans la boîte crânienne !)
Dr. Delphine Raucher-Chéné (Apports de la neuroimagerie en psychiatrie : en quoi étudier le cerveau nous aide à mieux comprendre les problèmes de santé mentale ?)
Dr. Anne Gallagher (Toute la lumière sur le développement du cerveau)
More details are provided below. You are invited to attend and to share this invitation with anyone who might be interested in this event.
Place: Grande Bibliothèque (475 Boul. de Maisonneuve E, Montréal, at Berri-UQAM metro station)
Date: Tuesday July 18, 2023
Time (talks in French): 6:00 pm (doors open at 5:30 pm)
Time (talks in English): 8:00 pm (doors open at 7:30 pm)
Tickets: free, but limited numbers available! Register quickly using the link below.
Register for French lectures: imagerieducerveau.eventbrite.ca
Register for English lectures: brainimaging.eventbrite.ca
Talks are aimed at the general public, and for each language session, there will be three talks of around 20 minutes, along with a Q&A session after.
Talks in English will be given by:
Dr. Alan Evans (A hitch-hiker's guide to mapping the brain)
Dr. Emily Coffey (Altering sleep and memory with sound)
Dr. Robert Zatorre (The neuroscience of music and why we love it)
Talks in French will be given by:
Dr. Sylvain Baillet (Tempête dans la boîte crânienne !)
Dr. Delphine Raucher-Chéné (Apports de la neuroimagerie en psychiatrie : en quoi étudier le cerveau nous aide à mieux comprendre les problèmes de santé mentale ?)
Dr. Anne Gallagher (Toute la lumière sur le développement du cerveau)
Invitation à un événement publique sur la science de l'imagerie du cerveau.
Le mardi 18 juillet, des neuroscientifiques d'universités québécoises présenteront les recherches liées au fascinant domaine de l'imagerie du cerveau. Les conférences seront données en anglais et en français, et sont gratuites pour le grand public.
Plus de détails sont fournis ci-dessous et dans les affiches ci-jointes. Vous êtes invités à y assister et à partager cette invitation avec toute personne susceptible d'être intéressée par cet événement.
Place : Grande Bibliothèque (475 Boul. de Maisonneuve E, Montréal, à la station de métro Berri-UQAM)
Date de l'événement : mardi 18 juillet 2023
Heure (conférences en français) : 18h00 (ouverture des portes à 17h30)
Heure (conférences en anglais) : 20h00 (ouverture des portes à 19h30)
Billets : gratuits, mais en nombre limité ! Enregistrez-vous rapidement en utilisant le site ci-dessous.
Billets pour les conférences en français : imagerieducerveau.eventbrite.ca
Billets pour les conférences en anglais : brainimaging.eventbrite.ca
Les conférences s'adressent au grand public et chaque session linguistique comprendra trois conférences d'environ 20 minutes, suivies d'une séance de questions-réponses.
Les conférences en français seront données par :
Dr. Sylvain Baillet ( Tempête dans la boîte crânienne ! )
Dre. Delphine Raucher-Chéné ( Apports de la neuroimagerie en psychiatrie : en quoi étudier le cerveau nous aide à mieux comprendre les problèmes de santé mentale ? )
Dre. Anne Gallagher ( Toute la lumière sur le développement du cerveau )
Les conférences en anglais seront données par :
Dr. Alan Evans ( A hitch-hiker's guide to mapping the brain )
Dre. Emily Coffey ( Altering sleep and memory with sound )
Dr. Robert Zatorre ( The neuroscience of music and why we love it )
Le mardi 18 juillet, des neuroscientifiques d'universités québécoises présenteront les recherches liées au fascinant domaine de l'imagerie du cerveau. Les conférences seront données en anglais et en français, et sont gratuites pour le grand public.
Plus de détails sont fournis ci-dessous et dans les affiches ci-jointes. Vous êtes invités à y assister et à partager cette invitation avec toute personne susceptible d'être intéressée par cet événement.
Place : Grande Bibliothèque (475 Boul. de Maisonneuve E, Montréal, à la station de métro Berri-UQAM)
Date de l'événement : mardi 18 juillet 2023
Heure (conférences en français) : 18h00 (ouverture des portes à 17h30)
Heure (conférences en anglais) : 20h00 (ouverture des portes à 19h30)
Billets : gratuits, mais en nombre limité ! Enregistrez-vous rapidement en utilisant le site ci-dessous.
Billets pour les conférences en français : imagerieducerveau.eventbrite.ca
Billets pour les conférences en anglais : brainimaging.eventbrite.ca
Les conférences s'adressent au grand public et chaque session linguistique comprendra trois conférences d'environ 20 minutes, suivies d'une séance de questions-réponses.
Les conférences en français seront données par :
Dr. Sylvain Baillet ( Tempête dans la boîte crânienne ! )
Dre. Delphine Raucher-Chéné ( Apports de la neuroimagerie en psychiatrie : en quoi étudier le cerveau nous aide à mieux comprendre les problèmes de santé mentale ? )
Dre. Anne Gallagher ( Toute la lumière sur le développement du cerveau )
Les conférences en anglais seront données par :
Dr. Alan Evans ( A hitch-hiker's guide to mapping the brain )
Dre. Emily Coffey ( Altering sleep and memory with sound )
Dr. Robert Zatorre ( The neuroscience of music and why we love it )
OHBM's many committees and Special Interest Groups
Community-led events at #OHBM2023
The 2023 OHBM Annual Meeting is fast approaching! In addition to the fantastic scientific content organized by the Program Committee, many other committees and special interest groups (SIGs) host their own programs. At last year’s Annual Meeting in Glasgow, committees and SIGs hosted events on inclusivity, mentorship, art, and much more.
Read on to learn about upcoming committee and SIG events at OHBM 2023!
And don't forget to check out our latest Neuroscience podcast episode, where Peter Bandettini and Alfie Wearn talk about these events! You can find it at your favorite podcast service here and on YouTube here.
Read on to learn about upcoming committee and SIG events at OHBM 2023!
And don't forget to check out our latest Neuroscience podcast episode, where Peter Bandettini and Alfie Wearn talk about these events! You can find it at your favorite podcast service here and on YouTube here.
Rahul Gaurav & Naomi L. Gaggi
Looking at the past and future of functional connectivity
Dr. Bharat B. Biswal is a distinguished professor in Biomedical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he serves as director for the Center for Brain Imaging and leads the Brain Connectivity Lab. He received his doctorate in biophysics from the Medical College of Wisconsin, following a masters from Michigan Technical University and a bachelors of science in electrical engineering from Utkal University in India.
Dr. Biswal is well-known for his seminal work in functional connectivity and continues his research in brain connectivity and signal processing using MRI. He is also a familiar guest on the NeuroSalience Podcast, having been featured in Season 3, Episode 5 in conversation with his former labmate Dr. Peter Bandettini.
In this interview, Rahul Gaurav and Naomi L. Gaggi talked with Dr. Biswal as a keynote speaker for the upcoming 2023 Organization for Human Brain Mapping Conference in Montreal, Canada. They cover his academic journey, his research, and the potential future of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Dr. Biswal is well-known for his seminal work in functional connectivity and continues his research in brain connectivity and signal processing using MRI. He is also a familiar guest on the NeuroSalience Podcast, having been featured in Season 3, Episode 5 in conversation with his former labmate Dr. Peter Bandettini.
In this interview, Rahul Gaurav and Naomi L. Gaggi talked with Dr. Biswal as a keynote speaker for the upcoming 2023 Organization for Human Brain Mapping Conference in Montreal, Canada. They cover his academic journey, his research, and the potential future of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Lavinia Uscătescu, with editing by Xinhui Li
Capturing the complex activity of the social brain
Dr. Xujun Duan is a professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China. She obtained her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, with Dr. Vinod Menon as one of her supervisors and mentors. She has extensive research expertise with multimodal and computational neuroimaging methods, which she employs to study the social brain of people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
In her 2023 OHBM keynote address, she will highlight some of her recent results developing extensive neuroimaging and neurostimulation protocols in a population of autistic children. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), she stimulated structures of the social brain (i.e. the parts of the brain responsible for processing information related to social interactions and cues) and followed this up with both neuroimaging and clinical assessments.
In this interview, Dr. Xujun Duan discusses how she overcame the challenges of implementing a research protocol that would adequately capture the complex activity of the social brain, as well as the rewarding moments she enjoyed during this process. Additionally, she offers career advice for early stage researchers who plan on pursuing an academic path.
In her 2023 OHBM keynote address, she will highlight some of her recent results developing extensive neuroimaging and neurostimulation protocols in a population of autistic children. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), she stimulated structures of the social brain (i.e. the parts of the brain responsible for processing information related to social interactions and cues) and followed this up with both neuroimaging and clinical assessments.
In this interview, Dr. Xujun Duan discusses how she overcame the challenges of implementing a research protocol that would adequately capture the complex activity of the social brain, as well as the rewarding moments she enjoyed during this process. Additionally, she offers career advice for early stage researchers who plan on pursuing an academic path.
Elisa Guma and Kevin Sitek
Using a variety of methods to map circuits in the primate brain
Takafumi Minamimoto is team leader of the Neural Systems and Circuits Research Group and deputy director of the Department of Functional Brain Imaging at the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology in Chiba, Japan. His research focuses on the interaction between motivation, emotion, and memory in the brain of non-human primates.
To address these questions, Dr. Minamimoto uses a range of methods including neuroimaging with functional MRI and PET as well as chemogenetic techniques such as Designer Receptors Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs), which are a class of proteins that allow scientists to control neural activity in awake, freely moving animals.
In this interview, Elisa Guma and Kevin Sitek talked with Dr. Minamimoto about his research program, the path he took to get there, and what we can expect from his 2023 Keynote address.
Read on to learn more!
To address these questions, Dr. Minamimoto uses a range of methods including neuroimaging with functional MRI and PET as well as chemogenetic techniques such as Designer Receptors Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs), which are a class of proteins that allow scientists to control neural activity in awake, freely moving animals.
In this interview, Elisa Guma and Kevin Sitek talked with Dr. Minamimoto about his research program, the path he took to get there, and what we can expect from his 2023 Keynote address.
Read on to learn more!
Alfie Wearn and Faruk Gulban
Exploring quantitative MRI and 'in vivo histology'
Dr. Aviv Mezer is an Associate Professor at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Dr. Mezer’s lab is focused on mapping human brain structures during normal development and aging. In addition, it is focused on developing new approaches to characterize the structural changes associated with neurological disorders. Mezer’s main research tool is in vivo quantitative magnetic resonance imaging – qMRI. The Mezer lab is developing tools to biophysically explain the brain’s MRI signals at different levels and resolutions: from molecular local sources through cellular organization to the mapping of networks across the entire brain.
In this interview, we discuss the field of qMRI more broadly, touching upon the present and future interpretations of "in vivo histology." We also discuss Dr Mezer’s approach to mentorship, as well as the skills that would benefit future researchers in this field.
At OHBM 2023, Dr. Mezer will show us how combining multiple quantitative MRI measures can provide additional biological information about tissue composition and brain health.
You can find the video interview here and listen to the audio-only podcast version here (or on your podcast app of choice).
Dr. Mezer’s lab is focused on mapping human brain structures during normal development and aging. In addition, it is focused on developing new approaches to characterize the structural changes associated with neurological disorders. Mezer’s main research tool is in vivo quantitative magnetic resonance imaging – qMRI. The Mezer lab is developing tools to biophysically explain the brain’s MRI signals at different levels and resolutions: from molecular local sources through cellular organization to the mapping of networks across the entire brain.
In this interview, we discuss the field of qMRI more broadly, touching upon the present and future interpretations of "in vivo histology." We also discuss Dr Mezer’s approach to mentorship, as well as the skills that would benefit future researchers in this field.
At OHBM 2023, Dr. Mezer will show us how combining multiple quantitative MRI measures can provide additional biological information about tissue composition and brain health.
You can find the video interview here and listen to the audio-only podcast version here (or on your podcast app of choice).
Johanna Bayer and LAVINIA CARMEN USCATESCU
Discussing deep brain stimulation and brain connectivity with Keynote presenter Andreas Horn
Dr. Andreas Horn is a clinician-scientist with training in neuroimaging, movement disorders, and both invasive and noninvasive brain stimulation. He is the group leader of the transatlantic Network Stimulation Laboratory at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital Boston and Charité – University Medicine Berlin. Dr. Horn’s research focuses on the development and improvement of methods to identify brain stimulation sites for studying network interactions and neuromodulation in the human brain. He is also the host of the podcast Stimulating Brains, focusing on brain stimulation.
In this interview with Dr. Horn, we explore how deep brain stimulation can be used to better understand the human connectome, and how this work can be leveraged to improve patients’ lives. “In contrast to many other neuroimaging domains, there is a more or less direct translation [from Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)] to clinical practice,” says Dr. Horn. For example, networks identified via DBS can be targeted with noninvasive stimulation methods such as multifocal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to improve conditions of patients with movement disorders like Parkinson's disease.
Dr. Horn also provides insight into ongoing discussions in the field on whether structural or functional measures provide better predictions for DBS outcomes. He explains why his lab has gradually shifted away from using patient-specific connectivity data to precise normative connectomes for determining which brain networks should be modulated for maximal effects.
In his keynote at OHBM 2023, Dr. Horn will give us a tour of his findings from years of work studying the effects of deep brain stimulation on the connectome across different disorders, ranging across neurological, neuropsychiatric, and psychiatric diseases. He will illustrate how his findings can be transferred across disorders to inform one another as well as how they can be further used to study neurocognitive effects and behaviors such as risk-taking and impulsivity.
You can find the video interview here and listen to the audio-only podcast version here (or on your podcast app of choice).
In this interview with Dr. Horn, we explore how deep brain stimulation can be used to better understand the human connectome, and how this work can be leveraged to improve patients’ lives. “In contrast to many other neuroimaging domains, there is a more or less direct translation [from Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)] to clinical practice,” says Dr. Horn. For example, networks identified via DBS can be targeted with noninvasive stimulation methods such as multifocal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to improve conditions of patients with movement disorders like Parkinson's disease.
Dr. Horn also provides insight into ongoing discussions in the field on whether structural or functional measures provide better predictions for DBS outcomes. He explains why his lab has gradually shifted away from using patient-specific connectivity data to precise normative connectomes for determining which brain networks should be modulated for maximal effects.
In his keynote at OHBM 2023, Dr. Horn will give us a tour of his findings from years of work studying the effects of deep brain stimulation on the connectome across different disorders, ranging across neurological, neuropsychiatric, and psychiatric diseases. He will illustrate how his findings can be transferred across disorders to inform one another as well as how they can be further used to study neurocognitive effects and behaviors such as risk-taking and impulsivity.
You can find the video interview here and listen to the audio-only podcast version here (or on your podcast app of choice).
Lavinia Carmen Uscatescu and Sin Kim
The third entry in our 2023 Keynote Presenter series
Dr. Emma Robinson is a Senior Lecturer (Assoc. Professor) at King’s College London. Her development of the Multimodal Surface Matching (MSM) software for cortical surface registration has been instrumental to the development of the Human Connectome Project’s multimodal parcellation of the human cortex. She is currently developing interpretable machine learning models for personalized prediction of disease progression.
In this interview, Dr. Robinson describes the advantages of interpretable machine learning models and the methodological challenges she faced during the development of this framework. Her approach to identifying disease-related changes in individual brain scans attempts to circumvent two limitations of traditional approaches: (1) the over-reliance on population averages; and (2) the opacity of “black-box” machine learning algorithms such as deep neural networks. However, her extensive experience working on the Human Connectome Project led her to realize that traditional image registration methods may not be sufficient for individualized predictions.
In addition, Dr. Robinson shared how her relationship with her mentors shaped the trajectory of her current career. Her mentors not only guided her on the application of computational methods to neuroscience but also encouraged her to develop her own methods.
At OHBM 2023, Dr. Robinson will present how her work contributes to improved personalized predictions of cortical features in patient populations and how interpretable machine learning approaches can enhance precision.
You can find the video interview here and listen to the audio-only podcast version here (or on your podcast app of choice).
In this interview, Dr. Robinson describes the advantages of interpretable machine learning models and the methodological challenges she faced during the development of this framework. Her approach to identifying disease-related changes in individual brain scans attempts to circumvent two limitations of traditional approaches: (1) the over-reliance on population averages; and (2) the opacity of “black-box” machine learning algorithms such as deep neural networks. However, her extensive experience working on the Human Connectome Project led her to realize that traditional image registration methods may not be sufficient for individualized predictions.
In addition, Dr. Robinson shared how her relationship with her mentors shaped the trajectory of her current career. Her mentors not only guided her on the application of computational methods to neuroscience but also encouraged her to develop her own methods.
At OHBM 2023, Dr. Robinson will present how her work contributes to improved personalized predictions of cortical features in patient populations and how interpretable machine learning approaches can enhance precision.
You can find the video interview here and listen to the audio-only podcast version here (or on your podcast app of choice).
Elisa Guma and Simon Steinkamp
Continuing our OHBM2023 keynote interview series
Dr. Emily Jacobs is an Associate Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences and the director of the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Health Initiative at University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley, and her BA in Neuroscience from Smith College. Prior to UCSB, she was an instructor at Harvard Medical School and at the Department of Medicine/Division of Women’s Health at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
In this interview, we discuss the pioneering work of Dr. Jacobs and her group in leveraging brain imaging, computation, and endocrine approaches to deepen our understanding of the influence of sex hormones on the central nervous system across spatial and temporal scales. Her group uses structural and functional neuroimaging methods to explore how the brain changes in response to endogenous hormonal changes, such as across the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, or menopause, as well as to exogenous hormones via oral hormonal contraceptives. Through the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Health Initiative, Dr. Jacobs and her group are working towards creating a population-level brain imaging dataset to advance our understanding of women’s brain health across the lifespan.
Dr. Jacobs also shares her journey into neuroscience research, her thoughts on how science can inform public policy, and talks about her groups’ efforts to improve girls’ representation in STEM by partnering with K-12 groups. This work was featured in the book STEMinists: The Lifework of 12 Women Scientists and Engineers.
At OHBM 2023, Dr. Jacobs will highlight the power of sex steroid hormones and the role that they play in shaping the brain over multiple timescales, drawing attention to some of the reasons why it has taken the field so long to focus on women’s brain health.
You can find the video interview here and listen to the audio-only podcast version here (or on your podcast app of choice).
In this interview, we discuss the pioneering work of Dr. Jacobs and her group in leveraging brain imaging, computation, and endocrine approaches to deepen our understanding of the influence of sex hormones on the central nervous system across spatial and temporal scales. Her group uses structural and functional neuroimaging methods to explore how the brain changes in response to endogenous hormonal changes, such as across the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, or menopause, as well as to exogenous hormones via oral hormonal contraceptives. Through the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Health Initiative, Dr. Jacobs and her group are working towards creating a population-level brain imaging dataset to advance our understanding of women’s brain health across the lifespan.
Dr. Jacobs also shares her journey into neuroscience research, her thoughts on how science can inform public policy, and talks about her groups’ efforts to improve girls’ representation in STEM by partnering with K-12 groups. This work was featured in the book STEMinists: The Lifework of 12 Women Scientists and Engineers.
At OHBM 2023, Dr. Jacobs will highlight the power of sex steroid hormones and the role that they play in shaping the brain over multiple timescales, drawing attention to some of the reasons why it has taken the field so long to focus on women’s brain health.
You can find the video interview here and listen to the audio-only podcast version here (or on your podcast app of choice).
What to Expect from the Diversity and Inclusivity Committee at The 2023 OHBM Annual Meeting
6/13/2023
Alexander Barnett, Christienne Damatac, Eduardo A. Garza-Villarreal, Julia Kam, Lucina Uddin, and Maryam Ziaei
On behalf of the OHBM Diversity & Inclusivity Committee
At this year’s OHBM meeting in Montreal, cutting-edge technology and a commitment to diversity and inclusivity will converge in an array of events curated by the Diversity and Inclusivity Committee (DIC). We will showcase the transformative power of thoughtful methodology in enhancing accessibility to and fostering a sense of belonging in neuroscience and neuroimaging.
First, the 5th annual DIC symposium will feature a panel of experts on groundbreaking technological solutions for supporting our diverse global community. From revolutionizing accessibility for individuals with visual and auditory impairments to promoting inclusivity in neuroimaging studies, this symposium promises to inspire us to actively improve our own research to be more inclusive.
Next, at the Multilingual Kids Review, we will engage young reviewers from diverse backgrounds in critically assessing a scientific presentation. Finally, the Diversity & Inclusivity Roundtable will focus on advancing diversity across multiple dimensions, examining strategies for organizing diverse symposia, educational courses, and brain hackathons.
We hope you will join us as we explore how technology, diversity, and inclusivity intersect to shape the future of neuroscience and neuroimaging. Together, we can work towards creating a welcoming environment for OHBM’s diverse and international membership.
First, the 5th annual DIC symposium will feature a panel of experts on groundbreaking technological solutions for supporting our diverse global community. From revolutionizing accessibility for individuals with visual and auditory impairments to promoting inclusivity in neuroimaging studies, this symposium promises to inspire us to actively improve our own research to be more inclusive.
Next, at the Multilingual Kids Review, we will engage young reviewers from diverse backgrounds in critically assessing a scientific presentation. Finally, the Diversity & Inclusivity Roundtable will focus on advancing diversity across multiple dimensions, examining strategies for organizing diverse symposia, educational courses, and brain hackathons.
We hope you will join us as we explore how technology, diversity, and inclusivity intersect to shape the future of neuroscience and neuroimaging. Together, we can work towards creating a welcoming environment for OHBM’s diverse and international membership.
Xinhui Li and Kevin Sitek
Kicking off the 2023 Keynote Lecture Series
| Hongkui Zeng is Executive Vice President and Director of the Allen Institute for Brain Science. Her current research interests focus on understanding neuronal diversity and connectivity in the mouse brain-wide circuits and how different cell types work together to process and transform information. Through her leadership of multiple scientific teams at the Allen Institute, she has built several research programs using transcriptomic, connectomic and multimodal approaches. What unifies each of these programs is their shared goal to characterize and classify the wide variety of cell types that constitute the mammalian brain, laying the foundation for unraveling the cell type basis of brain function. At OHBM 2023, Dr. Zeng will be presenting the Talairach Lecture entitled “Understanding Brain Cell Type Diversity.” Read on to learn about Dr. Zeng’s research, career trajectory, and advice for early career scientists through her conversation with Xinhui Li and Kevin Sitek! An edited version of this interview is also available to watch on YouTube or to listen to on your favorite podcast service. |  |
By Charlotte Rae, Nikhil Bhagwat, Peer Herholz, Irene Faiman, and Niall Duncan
FROM THE SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENT ACTION SIG (SEA-SIG)
As we prepare for the 2023 annual meeting in Montreal, many of us have started looking into travel arrangements, accommodation, and generally getting ready for the annual meeting. From booking travel to planning your time in Montreal, there are lots of ways that you can make your 2023 meeting experience more sustainable. Here we highlight some often overlooked tips, from getting around the city to poster printing and more
Yohan Yee
A look back before moving forward to 2023 keynote interviews
Prof Janaina [Jana-eena] Mourao-Miranda leads the Machine Learning and Neuroimaging Lab within the Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC) at the Department of Computer Science, University College London (UCL), where she applies pattern recognition and machine learning techniques to neuroimaging data. A major theme within Prof Mourao-Miranda’s research is uncovering the relationship between brain and behaviour.
At OHBM 2022, Prof Mourao-Miranda gave a keynote lecture on machine learning in neuroimaging and psychiatry. You can find a recording of Prof Mourao-Miranda’s talk here. Below is an edited transcript of an interview conducted with Prof Mourao-Miranda on June 17, 2022.
At OHBM 2022, Prof Mourao-Miranda gave a keynote lecture on machine learning in neuroimaging and psychiatry. You can find a recording of Prof Mourao-Miranda’s talk here. Below is an edited transcript of an interview conducted with Prof Mourao-Miranda on June 17, 2022.
Jean Chen
On behalf of the Women in OHBM Special Interest Group
Over half of OHBM conference attendees are women scientists (according to data from OHBM Executive Staff), and many of them continue to face gender-specific barriers in their work as human brain mappers. To enable members to learn from one another and mutually support career success, we created the Women in OHBM Special Interest Group (SIG), officially recognized as of March 2023.
The product of a 2-year informal consultation process, the Women in OHBM SIG was motivated by a group of mid- and early-career OHBM women scientists with shared interests and challenges around gender equity in terms of scientific impact, career development and work-life balance, among other topics. The SIG aims to provide a community for OHBM women to network, promote mutual career development and facilitate scientific exchange amongst women scientists.
The product of a 2-year informal consultation process, the Women in OHBM SIG was motivated by a group of mid- and early-career OHBM women scientists with shared interests and challenges around gender equity in terms of scientific impact, career development and work-life balance, among other topics. The SIG aims to provide a community for OHBM women to network, promote mutual career development and facilitate scientific exchange amongst women scientists.
2023 inaugural leadership of the Women in OHBM Special Interest Group.
Simon Steinkamp
Looking at OHBM membership data and a new membership tier
OHBM transitioned to a scientific society in 2018 with the goal of delivering year-round engagement for the society’s members rather than being solely about the annual meeting. However, if one looks at the raw membership numbers over the last 17 years, the main perceived membership benefit remains connected to the annual meeting. In particular, yearly membership numbers fluctuate with meeting location, with highest membership numbers from the same geographic region.
Unfortunately, this means that the society-based aspects of OHBM and many of the benefits of being an OHBM member have been largely overlooked. Thus, OHBM leadership is introducing a new MEMBERSHIP+ initiative to create a greater engagement of members on top of the annual meeting, strengthening OHBM as a society.
Unfortunately, this means that the society-based aspects of OHBM and many of the benefits of being an OHBM member have been largely overlooked. Thus, OHBM leadership is introducing a new MEMBERSHIP+ initiative to create a greater engagement of members on top of the annual meeting, strengthening OHBM as a society.
Fig. 1: OHBM membership data per year per continent. Bars in orange indicate if the Annual Meeting took place on the same continent, the virtual conferences are shaded in gray. Note different y-axis ranges for each plot. Numbers for North America include Central America and the Caribbean.
Alfie Wearn
On behalf of the OHBM Communications Committee Podcast Team
| 2023 is well underway. Holiday breaks and New Year’s parties seem but a distant memory. Since our end-of-2022 update, we have released four new episodes of Neurosalience, on which you can feast your eyes and ears. We released a long-awaited interview with ComCom, the curators of this very blog. Peter also interviewed Jeff Binder on concept representation, Lily Mujica-Parodi on modelling control systems, and Matthew Wall on the clinical utility of psilocybin. If you missed of any of these episodes, check the links and descriptions below: |  |
Naomi L. Gaggi
| OHBM leadership is interested in maximizing OHBM year-round. And so, it is critical to explore recent small virtual events to learn more about what these year-round virtual meetings could look like. One example of a successful virtual conference is the Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Neurodegeneration conference (2022 qMRI Conference), which took place online from October 26–28, 2022. The conference highlighted the latest advances in quantitative MRI (qMRI) methodology and how these novel tools are being applied to study different neurodegenerative conditions. I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Mallar Chakravarty, Dr. Christopher Rowley, Aurélie Bussy, and Olivier Parent about both their experience planning this kind of virtual event as well as what lessons they believe that OHBM can learn and apply to future focused and virtual endeavors. These are the key takeaways from our discussion: |  |
Beth Slater, with support from the OHBM Executive Office
Happy New Year and welcome to 2023, the year that OHBM will travel to Montréal for the 29th Annual Meeting. This meeting will be primarily held in person—but in a change from previous years, all members of OHBM can upload approved content and automatically have access to Annual Meeting content in a virtual space, regardless of registration status.
In previous years, presenters were required to register for the Annual Meeting prior to uploading their content. New this year, presenters who are unable to participate in person may upload content simply by being a member of OHBM. This shift will reduce the financial burden for individuals who cannot travel to Montréal. Membership can be renewed here at any time.
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