Leadership

Eric Feczko, PhD

Positions

• Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UMN

Summary of Current Research

As a young scientist, I aim to develop better tools for diagnosing and treating children with developmental disorders like autism. My aim requires extensive informatics and clinical training, I have studied developmental and aging disorders, functional and structural primate brain organization using MRI; I have also studied visual perception and social behavior using psychophysical tasks and observed behavior. Because of my research over the past decade, I am an expert in MRI, psychophysical, animal behavioral, and social network analysis techniques, and have studied autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Alzheimer’s disease, and the development of rhesus macaques.

From 2001-2007, I studied structural and functional MRI from Nouchine Hadjkahni, Gordon Harris, Christopher Wright, and Bradford Dickerson. In 2005, I received my B.A. in neuroscience from Brandeis University. From 2007-2013. I pursued and obtained my Ph.D. in neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis, where I mastered network analysis, resting state functional MRI, and studied autism spectrum disorders. As a postdoc at Emory University from 2013-2016, I studied rhesus macaque visual and social development with Lisa Parr, Mar Sanchez, and Jocelyne Bachevalier. Since arriving at Oregon Health and Sciences University in 2016, I received a position on the National Library of Medicine postdoctoral fellowship, and pivoted towards data science and informatics. In my latest work, I developed an approach to characterize heterogeneity of clinical outcomes.

Steve Nelson, PhD

Positions

• Faculty Member, Department of Pediatrics
• Imaging Core Director, Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB)
• Faculty Member, Division of Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience

Summary of current research

My laboratory focuses on two lines of research. The first asks how practicing retrieval or testing on material enhances our ability to retain that material over the long term. Putting information aside that we want to learn and trying to recall that information from memory is one of the most effective ways to “study”. We use neuroimaging techniques, primarily functional MRI, to understand how the brain supports this phenomenon. Future research will focus on the development of these neural systems and abilities in school-aged children and adolescents. The ultimate goal is to better understand how children learn most optimally and use this research to inform educational practices. Secondly, we use functional connectivity MRI to map networks and areas in the brain to better understand how neural systems are organized at the individual level. One of the major goals of this line of research is to examine how these systems or connections within these systems change through learning. Applications of precision mapping approaches to brain stimulation, which can be used to treat disorders like depression, are also of significant interest.

Oscar Miranda-Domínguez, PhD, MsC

Positions

• Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UMN

Summary of Current Research

Dr. Miranda-Domínguez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and a researcher at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. He completed his doctoral training under the guidance of Dr. Theoden Netoff and did a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Damien Fair at Oregon Health and Science University. Dr. Miranda-Dominguez’s main area of interest is understanding how neurological and mental disorders impact brain circuitry. He intends to apply model-based techniques to inform the development of individualized neuromodulation treatments for pediatric mental illness.

Brenden Tervo-Clemmens, PhD

Positions

• Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain
• Scholar, Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Minnesota

Summary of Current Research

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division, and Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain, as well as an Institute for Translational Neuroscience Scholar. I earned my PhD (Clinical Psychology) from the University of Pittsburgh, with secondary training from Carnegie Mellon University (Cognitive Neuroscience), focusing on the intersection of brain imaging, psychiatric phenotyping, and computational methods. I trained at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School for my predoctoral clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship, with an emphasis on research and treatment of adolescents with substance use disorders. 

Current research in my group focuses on understanding the emergence of mental health and substance use disorders during adolescence and uses techniques from developmental psychopathology research, cognitive neuroscience, and computational methods. We are also engaged in methodological work aiming to evaluate and improve the reproducibility and ultimately, clinical utility, of fMRI and behavioral assessment research in neurodevelopmental studies. We use a variety of complementary research designs (e.g., large-scale, population-level datasets and highly-sampled/intensive longitudinal neuroimaging studies) and analytic techniques (multivariate prediction, meta/mega-analysis, simulation) to address these questions. 

Bart Larsen, PhD

Positions

• Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience, Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain

Summary of Current Research

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience, and Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. I earned my PhD in Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh, with certification in Cognitive Neuroscience from the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University). I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in the Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC). 

My research program investigates the mechanisms that drive brain development, plasticity, and specialization during adolescence. My goal is to understand how these mechanisms promote healthy brain development while also creating windows of vulnerability to the emergence of psychopathology and to ultimately identify opportunities for targeted intervention. To pursue these goals, my lab uses cutting-edge multimodal neuroimaging techniques, biostatistical modeling, and computational approaches.

Kimberly Weldon, PhD

Positions

• Research Project Specialist, DCAN Labs
• Research Project Specialist, MIDB Neuroimaging Core

Summary of Current Research

I joined MIDB and DCAN Labs as a Project Manager in early 2022, where I use my background in ultra-high field MRI, cognitive neuroscience, and behavioral psychophysics to manage and consult on research studies. I am originally from Atlanta, Georgia, where I studied Psychology at Georgia Tech. In 2016, I completed my PhD in Cognitive Science at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. I moved to Minnesota in 2016 and furthered my neuroimaging skills and knowledge base as a postdoc and a staff research scientist at the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research. I enjoy the wide variety of research projects I am involved with and helping junior scientists gain confidence and independence as researchers. Outside of work I enjoy hiking, traveling, playing piano, and spending time with my family.