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by Claude Bajada
The GDPR is a new(ish) legislation by the European Union that regulates the processing of personal data when the person processing or controlling the data is in the EU, even if the actual processing occurs outside of the EU. Further, the GDPR also sometimes regulates the processing of personal data of people who are in the EU, even if the persons doing the processing are outside of the EU. How does this affect neuroimaging? We sit down with neuroimaging expert and Open Brain Consent co-author Dr Cyril Pernet (CP) and Technology law expert Dr Mireille Caruana (MC) to discuss the implications of this law on our work. The article flip-flops between the term “participants” and “data subjects” since ““data subject” is the term used in the GDPR but for the purposes of this article you can think of them as equivalent terms. What follows is a summary of our conversation, edited for conciseness and clarity. Who are our experts?
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Now is the time to submit your nominations for 2021 OHBM Awards. To inspire you, we are highlighting some of the outstanding winners from this year’s meeting.
This year’s annual meeting was unique in many ways. Uncertainty about whether the meeting would happen was followed by a remarkably fast reorganization in order to hold the meeting online with a complex time schedule. One event that was not missing in the program was the traditional award ceremony that recognized the work of individuals who have changed the scientific landscape of human brain mapping. Inspired by their nomination letters, we honor OHBM 2020 award winners and their achievements: Written by: Claude Bajada, Fakhereh Movahedian Attar, Ilona Lipp
Expert reviewers: Adina Wagner, Cyril Pernet Newbie editors: Yana Dimech, Renzo Torrecuso This post is about good neuroimaging practices. ‘Practices’ relates to all aspects of conducting research. By ‘good’, we mean beneficial to the field and neuroimaging community - but you’ll see that most of these practices also benefit the individual researcher. Here, we collected a number of tools, tips and tricks to do neuroimaging in the ‘best’ way possible. We aim to provide an overview and answer some questions you may have asked yourself about reproducibility and good neuroimaging practices. As usual, we refer to OHBM On-Demand videos from the educational sessions of previous annual meetings. OHBM has both a special interest group (SIG) for Open Science as well as a Best Practices Committee, where leading brain mappers promote and help implement Open Science and good practices in data analysis and sharing. Both the Open Science SIG and the Best Practices Committee regularly create invaluable resources, such as the annual Hackathon workshops, and the COBIDAS Best Practices in MRI and M/EEG data analysis papers. Guest post by Hiromasa Takemura
International diversity is essential for organizations like OHBM. Through my experiences attending recent OHBM Annual Meetings, I have found myself asking why so few researchers from Japan have visible roles. To find out whether this was indeed the case, and possibly why, I worked with the OHBM Executive Staff, Diversity & Inclusivity Committee, and Communications Committee to analyse membership and attendance data from the annual meetings. By collecting and analysing this demographic data we can gain insight into why some countries (in this case Japan given my background, but the findings may extend to others) may be underrepresented at OHBM. Japan is the 11th most populous country in the world, with an estimated population of 126 million (m) people in 2020. For comparison, Mexico has the most similar population with 128m people and Germany, Europe’s most populous country, has 83m. Japan has, over the years, substantially contributed to the OHBM community: for instance, the 2002 Annual Meeting was held at Sendai, Japan and Dr. Kang Cheng, a pioneer of high-resolution fMRI studies at a founding lab for RIKEN's Brain Science Institute, is heavily involved in organization of OHBM meetings. To get a picture of recent involvement of researchers from Japan, we examined data summarizing attendance and presentations at the OHBM Annual Meeting between 2017-2019 (Table 1). We defined Japanese members as those affiliated with Japanese institutions. Using this definition we found that Japanese members comprised 3.6%, 5.4% and 3.9% of all attendees for 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively, with the fluctuation reflecting the location of the annual meeting (OHBM 2018 was held in Singapore). We found a lower proportion of abstracts submitted by Japanese members: 2.6%, 3.6%, and 3.6% of the total number of abstracts for each of these years. By Elizabeth DuPre
The OHBM 2020 Annual Meeting was a year of many firsts. The move to an all-online event reflected the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, with work, travel and schooling routines already in disarray for researchers across the globe. As many of us had been out-of-office or away from our university campuses for months before the Annual Meeting, the chance to connect with the broader human brain mapping community became especially important. Traditionally, the Annual Meeting offers a chance to interact formally and informally with other researchers to make both scientific as well as interpersonal connections. Replicating these spontaneous conversations was perhaps the biggest challenge for this year’s meeting. First, there were the issues of timing. With OHBM members participating from their home countries, one member’s afternoon in North America would be the middle of the night for another member in Asia. The meeting was therefore set on a rotating schedule, with day-blocks favoring Asia-Pacific, European and African, or North and South American working hours. Once the timing was set, the second hurdle was developing a virtual space for interactions. Large online platforms—like those necessary to run a conference for thousands of members—often lean towards structured, lecture-style environments rather than organic interactions and impromptu discussions. From the available infrastructure options, OHBM Council decided in April to adopt the 6connex platform. Council’s intention was to allow time for all presenters, committees, and special interest groups (SIG) members to adapt their content; however, the time pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that many were still unclear how this new platform would work in practice in June. Expectations were thus high for the 6connex platform—possibly higher than could be reasonably met. The platform did well in delivering pre-recorded content, such as the excellent selection of keynotes lectures, symposia and oral sessions, but the space for spontaneous interaction was woefully lacking. As one example, many members noted the challenges of using the chat feature, such as when 1000+ attendees simultaneously participated in a single-threaded chat room. This lack of functionality created particular frustration in poster presentations and interactions, where presenters and attendees were unclear how to contact one another or how to provide on-the-spot poster walk-throughs. By Tzipi Horowitz & Nils Muhlert
Institutions throughout the world have had to adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many scanning centres shut their doors during lockdown, and have had to reopen gradually, and carefully. We surveyed several labs from around the world - to find out the challenges they’ve experienced and, in a few cases, the opportunities afforded. UK - Matt Wall (Head of MRI applications, Invicro, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London) Challenges: Everything shut down rapidly at the start of lockdown. In March, two big commercial scanning projects had to stop immediately. One had been running for some time, the other had just started. We had a lot of clinical people working with us - some very good medics. They spent a lot of time developing risk assessments and procedures. So we ended up restarting in late June. I tweeted about it at the time, and was contacted by people in other universities, asking how we managed it - so we shared our findings from the risk assessment process.  Tonya White By Nabin Koirala
In advance of our scheduled launch of the upcoming Journal “Aperture” from the Organization of Human Brain Mapping (OHBM), we wanted to get up close with the first Editor-in-Chief of the Journal - Tonya White. Tonya is currently an Associate professor in the Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Erasmus Medical center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. We discussed her personal journey in Science and her vision for the Journal. Nabin Koirala (NK): Thank you so much for making time for this interview. To start, could you please introduce yourself to general readers who may not be scientists? Tonya White (TW): That's always an interesting question because I have a number of different hats. I could say that I'm a developmental neuroscientist, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, a pediatrician or an electrical engineer. But what I've been mostly doing currently is what's called pediatric population neuroscience, which is actually the intersection between epidemiology and developmental neuroscience. The neuroimaging program I came to set up in Rotterdam is a large population-based study of child development. We’re currently collecting and evaluating more than 8000 MRI scans from children at three time points. Through the so called “Generation R Study” nearly 10,000 mothers who were pregnant between 2002 and 2006 were approached to participate in the study and the imaging is nested into a multifaceted epidemiologic study looking at many different aspects of child development.  John Mazziotta is Professor of neurology, CEO of UCLA Health, and vice chancellor of UCLA health sciences. He was also a founding member of the OHBM. He co-authored the first book on whole-body, cross-sectional anatomy using CT. He’s been involved in the first PET studies in normal subjects and with patients with epilepsy and Huntington’s disease. He was the principal investigator of the ICBM brain atlas, a key tool for brain normalisation. We interviewed him as part of our OHBM Oral History series, to find out about the early days of PET, (f)MRI and the inception of OHBM.
Nils Muhlert (NM): Thank you very much, Professor Mazziotta, for joining us today. I'd like to start by asking you about your background: Why and how did you become interested in neuroimaging? John Mazziotta (JM): Well, I wanted to be an architect. That didn't work out because I spent a lot of time in Manhattan with architects when I was an undergraduate, and they didn't seem very happy. I like science and went into a lab where I was doing early molecular biology and that was interesting but very isolating. I thought, “Well, I'll go to medical school.” I hated medical school, memorizing bones and things of this sort. Ultimately, I met a neuroscientist in the medical school. The school also had a very active biophysics department and were building the first CT scanner that could image outside of the head. This is now mid-1970s. I got involved in that project and we physically built that machine, soldering wires. We had a functional scanner that worked anywhere in the body. I decided I would become a neurologist, moved to Los Angeles and UCLA and immediately met the group that had moved from Washington University in St. Louis. They had been involved in the development of PET and all worlds connected, so I got involved in research with PET and then MRI. Authors: Katie Williams, Ilona Lipp, Mark Mikkelsen Infographic: Roselyne Chauvin Expert editors: James Kolasinski, Paul Mullins Newbie editors: Curtiss Chapman, Yana Dimech Introduction
The noninvasive imaging tools that we Human Brain Mappers apply are most often being used to research brain structure and function. Neurotransmitter systems are something that we are aware of and use to take into account when coming up with hypotheses or interpreting our findings, but rarely make the direct subject of our investigation. Most of us have probably heard of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) as the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter that is used by many interneurons. That we can also measure GABA in vivo with MR spectroscopy (MRS) is maybe less widely known. While this biomedical imaging tool opens many doors for neuroscience, measurement of GABA using MRS is not broadly used yet, possibly because special sequences and analysis methods are needed. At the OHBM Annual Meeting in 2019, for the first time, an educational session on GABA MRS was held. This post summarizes what was taught about the most important things you need to know if you’re considering GABA MRS for your research. by Nikola Stikov As we are getting ready to announce the 2020 OHBM Replication Award winner, here is a brief flashback to 2019 and our interview with Richard Dinga from the Department of Psychiatry at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers in the Netherlands. Richard led the effort to replicate a study published in Nature Medicine in 2017 about the relationship between resting state connectivity and the neurophysiological subtypes of depression.
 Biyu He In the lead up to the OHBM Annual Meeting, I had the pleasure of speaking to one of the keynote speakers, Dr. Biyu He, an Assistant Professor at New York University. Dr. He has made many valuable contributions to the field of neuroscience, combining diverse imaging methods and analytical techniques to tackle big questions relating to perceptual processing, spontaneous activity and consciousness in the human brain.
Rachael Stickland (RS): Thanks again for joining me. It's nice to - virtually - meet you. Biyu He (BH): Pleasure to meet you as well. OHBM 2020 Diversity Round Table: Intersection between Neuroscience and the LGBTQ+ community6/18/2020 Lee Jollans and the OHBM Diversity and Inclusivity Committee.
Edited by AmanPreet Badhwar At the 2020 virtual meeting, OHBM will, for the second time, host a Diversity Round Table. This year the round table will feature discussions on the intersection between Neuroscience and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) community. The four speakers will outline the specific challenges LGBTQ+ individuals face working in STEM (Jon Freeman), insights into the possible developmental bases of sexuality and gender (Doug VanderLaan), the current body of research into transgender identity (and its limitations), and the challenges and considerations that are crucial for carrying out good sex and gender research (Grace Huckins and Jonathan Vanhoecke).  Tomas Paus In preparation for OHBM 2020, we talked to Dr Tomas Paus, who will be giving a keynote lecture on Friday, June 26th. Dr. Paus is Director of the Population Neuroscience & Developmental Neuroimaging Program at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.
Roselyne Chauvin (RC): Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. In your talk you will be speaking about “population neuroscience and the growing brain.” There are a few ongoing longitudinal big data initiatives, such as ABCD or generation R. Those projects are now starting to think about the current pandemic situation. On one side, the situation is affecting everyone without discrimination; on the other, government responses create different experiences (from full to partial lockdown, to no restrictions), and of course, individuals show different stress responses. How do you think this might affect longitudinal datasets? And what are the questions that will need to be investigated out of this situation with regard to psychiatry and genetics? By Nils Muhlert  Michael Fox Professor Michael Fox is a neurologist at Harvard Medical School and director of the Lab for Brain Network Imaging and Modulation. His research into brain network imaging to define targets for brain stimulation holds considerable promise for new and improved treatments for a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions. Here we found out how his academic career started through a chance meeting with Mark Raichle, about his plans for clinical translation of network neuroimaging, and his advice for early career researchers:
By the OHBM Diversity and Inclusivity Committee (and endorsed by OHBM Council)
We share the deep sadness, outrage, and frustration that many around the world have felt in reaction to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and too many other innocent Black people over the years. As an international organization that strives to represent a diverse and vibrant global community of researchers studying the human brain, OHBM itself has struggled over its 25 years to incorporate initiatives and policies that reflect our values of inclusivity, tolerance, and respect. The events of these past weeks are a grim reminder that words alone are not enough to combat the systemic racism that plagues societies across the world, and we recognize that we have not done enough to support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. By the OHBM Communication Committee
By now you've heard that the OHBM Annual Meeting will be virtual! The 26th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping is happening from June 23 - July 3, Saturday and Sunday excluded, and will take place entirely online. This is new for many of us so we’ve put together a short Q&A. Here we address a number of questions you may have, and provide a taste of what you can expect from this unique OHBM Annual Meeting experience.  Alex Fornito Of course we all know that the brain functions as a network, but it is not straightforward to model it as such. One person who works very hard for us to be able to do so is Alex Fornito. He is a professor at Monash University and one of the leading forces in MRI-based network neuroscience. As he is also one of this year’s virtual meeting’s keynote speakers, I had the pleasure to invite Alex to a virtual meeting to ask about his scientific life.
Ilona Lipp (IL): Thanks for joining me during these crazy times. Apart from OHBM going virtual, what else has changed in your scientific life in the last few weeks? by Athina Tzovara, Julia Kam, Valentina Borghesani, AmanPreet Badhwar ‘If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good’ - Dr. Seuss
Live Review for Kids The OHBM Diversity and Inclusivity Committee is exploring an exciting and new direction this year: we will be engaging kids in the scientific review process! We asked five prominent scientists in the field of brain mapping and neuroscience to write a short article explaining their research to kids. The articles are written for the Frontiers for Young Minds (https://kids.frontiersin.org/, a journal dedicated to young readers of 8-15 years old. Once written, the articles are assigned to five young reviewers, who will work together with a neuroscientist mentor to critique the articles and prepare questions for the scientists.  Claudia Buss by Ekaterina Dobryakova
In preparation for this year’s Annual Meeting, we spoke to one of the keynote speakers, Dr. Claudia Buss. Claudia is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Irvine and a Professor of Medical Psychology at the Charité University Medicine in Berlin. In a virtual meeting, I sat down with Dr. Buss to discuss her captivating research in the field of developmental programming and newborn infant neuroimaging. Ekatarina Dobryakova (ED): Dr. Buss, thank you for dedicating your time for this interview. Before we get into more specific questions, I was wondering whether you mind sharing a bit about how you came to do the work that you're doing, and what got you to follow this passion in research. Authors: Claude Bajada, Nils Muhlert, Ilona Lipp
Infographic: Roselyne Chauvin Expert editors: Alfred Anwander, Jurgen Gatt Newbie editor: Caroline Jantzen Introduction Neuroanatomy is one of the most exciting topics in neuroscience! Some readers may disagree, but for now, humor us and read along. With the help of this On-Demand post, we will convince you not only that anatomy is a useful endeavour but that it is one where much beauty is found. Our journey starts with the fundamental notion that the structure and the function of objects are tightly coupled; sometimes in ways that are not obvious. Understanding the complexity of the brain’s structure, hopefully, allows researchers to build more accurate models of brain function.  Professor David van Essen David van Essen, Alumni Professor of Neuroscience at Washington University St Louis School of Medicine, has been a pivotal figure in non-human and human neuroimaging. David is the principal investigator on the Human Connectome Project, and has made substantial contributions to brain parcellation methods, functional neuroimaging, and data sharing initiatives. Here, we find out about his early work in cortical cartography and his early experiences with OHBM.
 Aperture, OHBM’s exciting new open-access publishing platform, is on track for a June launch, just in time for the 2020 Annual Meeting. The Aperture Oversight Committee, consisting of Jean-Baptiste Poline, Peter Bandettini, Michael Breakspear, Nikola Stikov, David Kennedy, and Jessica Turner, has been hard at work finalizing a plan of operations that will help guide all of Aperture’s submission, editorial, and review processes.
 Jia-Hong Gao By Lisa Nickerson
The current Chair of the OHBM is Jia-Hong Gao, who brings a fresh perspective being the first Chair elected from Asia. Jia-Hong received his Ph.D. from Yale, followed by post-doctoral work at MIT and faculty positions at San Antonio and Chicago. Since 2013, Jia-Hong has been in Beijing as the Director of the Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering and a Principal Investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Peking University. We interviewed him about his experiences as Chair of OHBM, what excites him most about neuroimaging, and the rapid expansion of neuroimaging research in China. By Nils Muhlert “The times, they are a-changing.” Dylan’s lyrics from the early 1960s reflected that era’s mass societal upheavals. But now, with increasing realization of the impact of climate change, with a once-in-a-generation response to the dangers of a pandemic, those words ring truer than ever. Life is definitely moving apace. But our work in trying to understand the structure and function of the human brain continues. These efforts to improve scientific methods, make more accurate insights and accelerate the communication of that work remains.  Balancing the budget requires trade-offsBy Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi (OHBM Treasurer 2019-20) At OHBM 2019, Council decided that it would be beneficial to the membership to provide a window into the decision-making process regarding finances. If you’ve ever wondered why our support for Special Interest Groups (the SIGs) changes from year to year, or how we decide on the location, venue, and registration costs for a meeting—we hope to demystify some of the many thought processes that go into how Council makes its financial decisions and prioritizes requests for funding.
Responsible financial stewardship of OHBM has always been a priority of the Society. This includes the maintenance of adequate financial reserves that are needed for a society to function. For OHBM, this requires that our financial reserves are equal to at least 50% of the average annual costs, averaged over the previous three years. This is consistent with professional investment advice, and how many societies run their finances. |
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