Xin Yu

Xin Yu studied Neuroscience and Biophysics at New York University, USA. During his Ph.D. training in Dan Turnbull’s lab, he implemented Manganese-enhanced MRI to study the auditory midbrain plasticity and mid-hindbrain development. Meanwhile, he was trained by Dan Sanes to target the inferior col...

Hakan Ay

Dr. Hakan Ay is an MD with residency training in Neurology and fellowship training in Vascular Neurology. He currently serves as an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School with appointments in both departments of Neurology and Radiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Ay has 28 y...

Sara Lazar

Sara W. Lazar, PhD, is an Associate Researcher in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. The focus of her research is to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of yoga and meditatio...

The Road to MPI

Functional MRI has proved a transformative technology, yielding previously unimaginable insights into the workings of the brain. But what if there were another approach, one with dramatically higher sensitivity, that could shed even more light on these mysteries? What might we learn then? Larry ...

Christin Sander

Dr. Christin Sander's research focuses on multi-modal functional brain imaging with combined MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and PET (positron emission tomography). Her main interests include (i) dynamic imaging of dopamine & glutamate neuroreceptor function through pharmacology and neuromod...

Roberta Sclocco

Dr. Sclocco has a background in bioengineering and signal processing, with specific training in non-invasive neuroimaging (e.g., fMRI, EEG) and peripheral autonomic data analyses. Since the beginning of her career, she have been interested in the interactions between the central and peripheral au...

Moving Beyond Biopsy for Liver Fibrosis

Chronic liver disease is a growing health concern in the U.S. and around the world, with links to alcoholism, diabetes and even obesity. One of the early manifestations of the disease is fibrosis, an excessive buildup of scar tissue that results from repeated injury to the liver. While its effect...

Michael Placzek

Dr. Placzek's research focuses on studying human brain diseases with translational molecular imaging - positron emission tomography (PET). Through a multi-faceted approach, his group is working towards a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in brain diseases. Their work is ap...

MEG Method May Hold the Secret to Baldness

A variety of factors can stop hair from forming and growing properly, leading to hair diseases and baldness. A new method developed recently by investigators at the MGH Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging examines the activity of hair follicles and could be useful for testing the effects of di...

The Past, Present and Future of Molecular Imaging @ Martinos

Over the past several months, the MGH Martinos Center has been both celebrating the past and looking toward the future of its molecular imaging effort – with a symposium held last fall and now a series of initiatives designed to bolster the molecular imaging community. While there has always b...

Marta Bianciardi

Marta Bianciardi, PhD, joined the faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) with the goal of developing an in vivo neuroimaging-based atlas and connectome of brainstem nuclei by 7 Tesla MRI, to enhance our knowledge and the quality of patient care in disorde...

Karl Helmer

Karl Helmer, PhD, maintains research interests in several areas: (1) the creation of data management and sharing infrastructure; (2) the development of imaging protocols for multi-site MR imaging-based studies; (3) the creation of quality control and assessment software for MRI data; and (4) deve...

Early Screening of ASD With a New Eye-tracking Paradigm

Studies have shown that early diagnosis and intervention significantly impact the prognosis of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): the earlier the detection and diagnosis, the better the prognosis and functional status later in life. Currently, the average age of diagnosis is approxi...

Matti Hämäläinen and the Music of MEG

Every Christmas back home in Finland, the Martinos Center’s Matti Hämäläinen gathers with friends for an evening of performing chamber music. He plays both flute and piano on these occasions; in more recent years he has explored the repertoire for “piano four hands” with his former classmate Laur...