Lauren O’Donnell, PhD: Novel Analyses of Diffusion MRI Fiber Tractography to Study the Brain’s Connections in Health and Disease

Lauren Jean O’Donnell, PhD
Associate Professor in Radiology
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School

Abstract

Our recent research demonstrates that white matter fiber tracts can be automatically identified from diffusion MRI tractography across the lifespan. This enables novel analyses of the human brain’s white matter, including new machine learning and statistical methods that we have developed. Important tractography research challenges remain, including anatomical, technical, and clinical challenges that will be described in this talk.

Short Bio

Lauren is an Associate Professor in Radiology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her research focuses on diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, the only method that can map the connections of the living human brain. Her research group develops machine learning technology that can identify thousands of white matter brain connections very robustly across the lifespan. She has several research areas of interest, including novel computational methods, white matter atlases, neurosurgical planning, and open-source software.