| Trevor Andrews |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Dr. Andrews received his BS in Physics at the University of Texas at Austin and his PhD in Medical Physics at the University of Texas Health Science Center atSan Antonio. He worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the VUIIS from February 2005 until the spring of 2007. His research primarily focused on characterizing the MR properties of white matter. To accomplish this, he utilized several physical mechanisms including diffusion, multi-exponential T2 relaxation, and magnetization transfer. He is now an MR Clinical Scientist for Philips Medical Systems.
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| Wilson Barros |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Wilson Barros was a member of the VUIIS from 2004 until 2007. He received a PhD in Physics from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil. His main research interests at VUIIS were diffusion processes on structured systems and binary mixtures and low field imaging. He worked on intermolecular multiple quantum coherences imaging and spectroscopy. His studies focused on the role of diffusion in CRAZED sequences and on ways of getting information from structured systems by this technique. He is now a Visiting Scientist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at Harvard.
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| Edward J. Butterworth |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Dr. Butterworth holds a Ph.D. in Theology from Fordham University and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He was at Vanderbilt from January 2004 until 2006. His principal research interest was the application of classical electrodynamics to MRI techniques, especially with respect to the design and fabrication of RF coils.
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| Efrain E. Garcia |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
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| Rachel Gibbons |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
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| Subhadra Gunawardana |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Subhadra Gunawardana was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. David Piston. She earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Cornell University in 2002. She also has an M.S. in Physiology from Iowa State University, and a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from Sri Lanka. Her research interests included the influence of islet intracellular pH on insulin secretion; the mechanisms of "beta cell memory" or time-dependent potentiation of insulin secretion; and in vitro culture of embryonic pancreatic explants.
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| Elizabeth Hackler |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
| Elizabeth Hackler is now a Staff Scientist at Abbott labs in Chicago. |
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| Mingming Hao |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Dr. Hao joined the laboratory of Dr. David Piston at Vanderbilt in 2003, after
completing her Ph.D. and a short postdoctoral training in biochemistry and cell
biology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City, where
she also held the position of Director of the Advanced Optical Microscopy Core
Facility. Her thesis research, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Fred Maxfield,
focused on membrane trafficking and cholesterol homeostasis. Prior to that, she
earned a B.S. with distinction in biological sciences from Cornell University
in Ithaca, NY. Her current research uses quantitative fluorescence microscopy
to look at the mechanisms underlying granule movement during insulin release in
pancreatic beta cells.
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| Elizabeth A. Louie |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Elizabeth was a postdoctoral fellow at VUIIS from 2005 to 2008. She completed a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in Seattle at the University of Washington with Gary Drobny. Her graduate work consisted of using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) to determine structures of biological molecules such as peptides adsorbed to biomaterial surfaces and 12mer DNAs interacting with small molecules, as well as measuring long-range distances using 31P{19F} REDOR in DNA incorporated with a trifluoromethyl group. At VUIIS, she worked with Bruce Damon on characterizing the physiological responses of muscles under various conditions in order to understand in vivo magnetic resonance relaxation using MRI and MRS techniques.
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| Yonggang Lu |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Yonggang's primary research interests were image analysis and fiber tractography in diffusion tensor imaging. He was at VUIIS for about two years and received his Ph.D. degree from Southeast University, China.
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| Jeff Luci |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
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| E-mail Address: jeffrey.luci@vanderbilt.edu |
Jeff is from Denver, Colorado. He received his Bachelor's in chemistry from Benedictine
College in 1995 and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Iowa in 2002.
He was a Research Fellow at VUIIS from 2002 until 2005. His research interests
included the elucidation of NMR relaxation mechanisms in tissue, polymer gel dosimetry,
pulse sequence development, Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE) MRI, and in vivo NMR
spectroscopy. He is now Research Instructor of Radiology in the VUIIS.
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| Andrej Lyshchik |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
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| H. Charles Manning |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
| E-mail Address: henry.c.manning@vanderbilt.edu |
H. Charles Manning received a bachelors of science degree in Chemistry from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas (May 2004). In June, 2004, he started a training fellowship in VUIIS with his primary research emphasis comprising synthesis, characterization, and application of Molecular Imaging agents, including Lanthanide chelates. Upon completing his fellowship, he became Assistant Professor of Radiology in the VUIIS.
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| Tiffanie M. Markus |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Office: MCN, AA3114
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| Ken Niermann |
| Cancer Imaging Research Fellow, VUIIS and Radiology & Radiological Sciences |
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| E-mail Address: ken.niermann@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: MCN, C-1107
Ken's cancer imaging investigations include the use of color power Doppler & microbubble enhanced sonography to quantify tumor growth and response to experimental treatments. He is also developing techniques to use flash sonographic imaging to deliver anatomically-guided treatments attached to microbubbles. The focus of another project is to develop and validate of an automatic segmentation system that has the ability to delineate neuroanatomical structures on the MR images of the human brain. This system would increase the efficiency and uniformity of three-dimensional radiation treatment planning for patients with brain cancer. Ken received an M.D. from Vanderbilt in 2002 and a B.S. in Biology from Sterling College in 1997.
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| Xiawei Ou |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
Xiawei was with VUIIS from 2003 until 2008, after having graduated with a B.S.
from Peking University in 2001 and acting as a TA in the Department of
Physics and Astronomy in Vanderbilt University for two years. He worked in
VUIIS as a RA and received his Ph.D. degree in Physics in 2007. Xiawei was also
a postdoctoral research fellow in VUIIS. His primary
research interest involved quantitative magnetization transfer imaging
technique development and applications of MRI methods on white matter
imaging. He is now an MR Physicist at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
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| Chad Quarles |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
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| E-mail Address: chad.quarles@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: MCN, C-1107
Chad's research interests include DSC-MRI, tumor angiogenesis, metabolism, and hypoxia. Tumor hypoxia is known to influence the aggressiveness of a tumor and its responsiveness to therapy. Several physiological factors contribute to the status of tumor oxygenation including the delivery of oxygen (i.e. blood flow, vascular architecture), hematocrit, the density of cells and perfused blood vessels, and the cellular metabolic activity. The goals of Chad's research are to develop non-invasive imaging techniques (MRI, PET, etc) to monitor these factors, distinguish between perfusion- versus diffusion-limited hypoxia, and utilize these measures to evaluate and optimize therapy. Chad received both his B.S. and Ph.D. in Biophysics, from Centenary College of Louisiana in 1999 and from Medical College of Wisconsin in 2004, respectively.
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| Baxter Rogers |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
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| E-mail Address: baxter.rogers@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: MCN, R-1302
Baxter graduated with a Ph.D. in Medical Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he worked with Beth Meyerand. He has been a postdoctoral fellow with VUIIS since June 2004. His primary interest is brain connectivity: how regions of the brain with different functional specializations work together to perform cognitive tasks.
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| Chirayu Shah |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
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| Tuhin Sinha |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
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| E-mail Address: tk.sinha@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: MCN, C-1107
Tuhin graduated with a B.E, M.Sc., and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt in Biomedical Engineering over the past 10 years. His research interests include image- and model-based registration, medical visualization, modeling, and image-guided surgery. His dissertation covers the tracking of the brain's non-rigid motion during surgery using a laser-range scanner for use in a model-updated image-guided surgery paradigm.
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| Greg Turner |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
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| E-mail Address: greg.turner@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: MCN, R-1302
Greg has been with VUIIS for 10 months as a postdoctoral fellow. His main areas of study are animal and human fMRI, the biophysical basis of fMRI signals, and pharmacological fMRI. Prior to joining VUIIS, Greg received his BSEE and MSEE from the University of Alabama and his MSBME and Ph.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
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| Kevin Waddell |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
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| E-mail Address:
kevin.waddell@vanderbilt.edu |
| Office Phone: 615-343-8019 |
Office: VUH B-163A
Kevin Waddell completed a Ph.D. in solid-state magnetic resonance at the University of Louisville with Richard Wittebort and has been a postdoctoral fellow at VUIIS since December 2004. His graduate work focused on experimental and theoretical determinations of nitrogen-15 and oxygen-17 chemical shielding and electric field gradient tensors in biologically relevant model amide linkages and the correlation of these NMR tensors to molecular structure and function. He is currently working on in-vivo spectroscopy with particular attention on optimal detection strategies of brain metabolites.
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| Jason M. Williams |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
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| E-mail Address:
jason.m.williams@vanderbilt.edu |
| Office Phone: 615-936-3890 |
Office: MCN AA-3112
Since September 2004, Jason has been working in the laboratory of Dr. Aurelio Galli in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics on a collaborative imaging project with Drs. John Gore and Calum Avison of the VUIIS and Randy Blakely of the Department of Pharmacology. This project utilizes MRI/MRS, microPET and voltammetric techniques in rodents to study the neuronal mechanisms associated with psychostimulants and how they are affected by diabetes. Jason earned his B.S. in Biochemistry from Louisiana State University in Shreveport, LA, and later completed his Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN.
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| Junkai Xu |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
Junkai Xu received a B.S. degree in biophysics from Nanjing University (Nanjing, Jiangsu, China) in July 2001 and Ph.D. degree in Physics from Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN, US) in September 2007. His past research at Vanderbilt includes: studying the mechanism of cardiac wave propagation by observing the electric activity on the surface of the heart and developing novel instrumentation to facilitate that research; development of an ultra-sensitive nanocalorimeter which can be used to measure cell metabolism and its variation under change of the physical/chemical environment, such as injections of toxin. His most recent research is related to optimizing the magnetic transfer contrast methods in MRI.
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| Tom Yankeelov |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
Before becoming a research fellow in the VUIIS, Tom studied mathematics and physics at Indiana University and Biomedical Engineering at SUNY Stony Brook. His current research is aimed at developing quantitative methods of data collection and analysis of contrast enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging. These methods can report on physiological parameters such as blood flow, vessel permeability, and tissue volume fractions. We have active collaborations with groups applying these methods in both pre-clinical (mouse models of human cancer) and clinical cancer.
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| Huairen Zeng |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, VUIIS |
| E-mail Address: huairen.zeng@vanderbilt.edu |
Huairen Zeng was research fellow and is now an Instructor of Radiology. He has been a member of VUIIS since July 2002. He works on MRI technical development, focusing on pulse sequence development and distortion corrections. He received his Ph.D. in Physics at Kent State University in Ohio in 1999.
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| Na Zhang |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Na Zhang received her B.S in applied physics and her B.A in English from Tianjin University (China) in 2001. She enrolled in graduate school at Vanderbilt University in 2002 and received her Ph.D degree in Physics in 2007. Her Ph.D studies, under the instruction of Drs. John Gore and Calum Avison, mainly focused on the biophysical basis of FMRI, with insights from high spatial resolution studies of primates. Her former projects also involved studies of paramagnetic ions, such as manganese and iron, and their influence on the relaxation rates measured by MRI. As a research fellow in VUIIS, her current research related to magnetic resonance spectroscopy and chemical shift imaging in both human and animal models.
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Former Graduate Students |
| T.J. Brower |
| Graduate Student |
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E-mail Address: theron.d.brower@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: MCN, AA1109 & FGH 341H
TJ is a third year graduate student with VUIIS researching under Dr. Ding on the project entitled: Shape Analysis of Corpus Collasum in Math Deficit Children. He is a part of the EECE Graduate Program majoring in Electrical Engineering with a primary research interest in Medical Image Processing. He received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in May 2004 from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in Greensboro, NC.
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| Reuben H. Fan |
| Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering |
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E-mail Address: |
Office: MCN, R-1104
Reuben began his graduate studies at Vanderbilt in the fall of 2002 and joined
VUIIS in January 2004. He is currently working on uses of multi-exponential T2
decay, specifically in the quantification of myelin. He also holds wide interests
in areas of research that deal with nervous systems, both central and peripheral.
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| Kathy Fernandez |
| Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering |
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E-mail Address: kathy.fernandez@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: MCN, R-1104
Kathy Fernandez is a second year graduate student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. She joined VUIIS in the summer of 2004. She is currently involved with structural and functional studies of the central nervous system in prenatally cocaine-exposed macaques. She earned her bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2003.
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| Zheng Fu |
| Graduate Student, School of Engineering |
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E-mail Address: zheng.fu@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: MCN, R-1104
As a research assistant and engineering graduate student under Dr. Todd Peterson,
Zheng's main research interests include SPECT and algorithms of image reconstruction.
He holds a B. Eng. in Electrical Engineering from Fudan University (2000) and
a M. Eng. in MOT from Vanderbilt University (2004). Zheng started at VUIIS as
a summer student in May 2003.
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| Elizabeth Hackler |
| Graduate Student |
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E-mail Address: |
| Office: |
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| Helen Jackson |
| Graduate Student |
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| David Kwartowitz |
| Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering |
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E-mail Address: david.m.kwartowitz@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: MCN, R-1104
David Kwartowitz is a second year graduate student in the Department of Biomedical
Engineering and has been a member of VUIIS since July 2004. He works on a project
attempting to measure whole lung perfusion using Computed Tomography. He received
his Bachelor of Science in Engineering in the field of Biomedical Engineering
at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH in 2003.
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| Rob Lee |
| Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering |
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E-mail Address:
robert.e.lee@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: VUH, B-165
Rob is a second year M. Eng. graduate student within VUIIS developing MRI research software to facilitate the development of secondary MR images for use in breast cancer treatment planning, leveraging his years of computer industry experience within the medical research arena. He recently completed his B.E. in Biomedical Engineering here at Vanderbilt in 2005 after a 27 year break between senior years.
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| Blake Niederhauser |
| Graduate Student |
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E-mail Address: blake1@gmail.com |
Office:
Blake Niederhauser is a first year medical student at Vanderbilt
working under the mentorship of Dr. John Gore. His current projects
investigate functional brain imaging using near infrared spectroscopy.
He received his bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of
Utah in 2004 before moving to Nashville.
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| Xiawei Ou |
| Graduate Student, Physics |
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E-mail Address: xiawei.ou@vanderbilt.edu |
Office: MCN, R-1104
Xiawei has been with VUIIS since 2003, after having graduated with a B.S. from
Peking University in 2001 and acting as a TA in the Department of Physics and
Astronomy for two years. His primary research interest involves quantitative magnetization
transfer.
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| Jingbo Qi |
| Graduate Student, Physics |
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E-mail Address: jingbo.qi@vanderbilt.edu |
Office Phone: MCN, R-1104
Jingbo Qi is graduate student in the Department of Physics. He conducts research on in vivo spectroscopy,
mainly focusing on spectral editing. He received his B.S. and M.S. from China in 1999 and 2002, respectively.
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| Sakda Sethaphong |
| Graduate Student |
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Latsavongsakda Sethaphong was a graduate student in Dave Piston's laboratory. His projects focused on hyperspectral optical deconvolution and fluorescent protein design. He received an A.B. in physics from Harvard College in 2000. |
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| Jesse Shaver |
| Graduate Student, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics |
Jesse Shaver was a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Dave Piston, Department of
Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. He was an MSTP student at Vanderbilt University Medical School,
where he began medical training in 2001. His work focused on the biophysics of corneal transparency,
with emphasis on the loss of cellular transparency during wound healing. Mr. Shaver was also interested
in the development of new ophthalmic instrumentation for clinical care and basic research use. He
received a B.S. in chemistry with minors in mathematics and physics from Fort Hays State University in
Hays, KS in 2001.
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| Lin Tang |
| Graduate Student, Physics |
Lin worked on the development of methods for studying human brain function using
MRI and for integrating fMRI data with other imaging methods such as EEG. Her
most recent project sought to identify regions of msMRI signal change associated
with a well-characterized brain activation paradigm and to assess whether the
signal changes observed are due to changes in neural activity. She obtained a
B.Sc. degree in Physics from Nanjing University in 1997.
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| Jack Virostko |
| Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering |
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| E-mail Address: jvirostko@gmail.com |
Office:
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| Yansong Zhao |
| Graduate Student |
Yansong Zhao was a graduate student at Yale University in the Department of Engineering
& Applied Physics. He was with VUIIS from 2002 until 2005, where he worked
on his thesis while registering in absentia at Yale. With Dr. Gore as his advisor,
Yansong's research focused on shimming and susceptibility artifacts.
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Former Staff |
| Richard Baheza |
| Laboratory Manager |
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E-mail Address:
richard.baheza@vanderbilt.edu |
Richard Baheza has been at Vanderbilt since 2003. He received his B. Eng. degree in Electronic Engineering from the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (UAM), Azcapotzalco Campus, and an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering at the UAM, Iztapalapa Campus where he earned the merit medal, which is the equivalent of graduating with magna cum laude.
The UAM has three campuses in the metropolitan area of Mexico city, and is one of the three largest research Mexican federal universities. He recently served as the senior Lab Manager of the CSAI. His tasks included: new user training; magnet operation; center administration; and pulse programming and maintenance of scanner software (vnmrj from Varian Inc.).He is currently a graduate student in Vanderbilt University's Department of Biomedical Engineering. His main research interests are design and development of MR coils, sequence development and implementation of new MR protocols and sequences.
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| Jennifer Begtrup |
| Research Assistant |
Jennifer arrived at VUIIS in April 2004 and worked primarily in the Center for Small Animal Imaging.
Her responsibilities included data acquisition and analysis for investigators on mircoCT, microPET,
and MR, as well as general lab assistance in the CSAI. Previous to her position
at VUIIS, she received an M.S. from the University of Southern California in Biomedical Engineering-Imaging
and Telemedicine and a B.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt.
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| Joanna Blankner |
| Research Assistant |
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| Silvia Cambronero |
| Research Assistant |
Silvia Cambronero received her B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis in May 2007. She then joined the VUIIS as a Research Assistant in the Center for Small Animal Imaging in August 2007, working with a variety of imaging instruments, including PET, CT, MRI, and SPECT, in order to image and analyze small animals belonging to a wide range of VU research groups. She relocated to Atlanta, GA, in the spring of 2008.
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| Maria Maguire |
| Research Assistant |
Maria joined VUIIS in July 2004 and conducted studies of muscle fatigue and childhood
math disability using fMRI, as well as other PR-related duties for the institute.
After graduating with an A.B. in comparative literature from Princeton University
in 2001 and working in market research consulting and software marketing for a
couple of years in Boston, she completed a post-baccalaureate pre-med program
at Harvard University in 2004.
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| Jennifer Pryweller |
| Research Assistant |
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| Heather L. Scott |
| Veterinary Technician |
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| Eiman Shafa |
| Research Assistant |
Eiman joined VUIIS as a research assistant in June 2004 after graduating from Vanderbilt
University's Undergraduate School of Arts and Sciences with a concentration in Neuroscience.
He was involved in result analysis and subject recruitment.
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| Parham Zanjanipour |
| Research Assistant |
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Alumni |
