National Resource for Quantitative Functional MRI NCRR

Organizational Structure

The Resource for Quantitative Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary laboratory combining facilities of the F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging at the Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) and the Center for Imaging Science (CIS) at Johns Hopkins University. The F.M. Kirby Center is physically located in KKI, headed by Dr. Gary Goldstein (President). The Center for Imaging Science is physically located at the Homewood campus of the John Hopkins University, within the School of Engineering (Dean Jones) and the Department of Biomedical Engineering (Chairman, Elliott McVeigh). The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine houses the Department of Radiology (Chairman, Dr. Lewin). The F.M. Kirby Research Center is integrated with both KKI and the Department of Radiology, and is headed by Dr. Peter van Zijl, Professor of Radiology, also the PI of the Resource Center. Dr. van Zijl has overall responsibility for the resource, but the general goals are formulated by Dr. van Zijl and the principal investigators of the TR&D projects. Guidance is provided by the internal and external advisory boards consisting of local and (inter)national experts, respectively. Research projects are stimulated by the needs of the driving biomedical projects (see earlier section) and technology is used by collaborators and service projects and, in addition, disseminated through presentations and software and data transfer to interested sites.

Multimodal glioblastomal imaging

Multimodal imaging of glioblastomas, with contrast based on fluids, gadolinium-enhanced relaxation, and proteins.

Overview

The figure below shows the overall organization scheme of the resource:

Executive Committee

This committee consists of the resource directors for each Technology Research and Development Project:
  • TR&D1: Metabolic MR(S)I
    • Dr. Peter Barker
  • TR&D2: Physiological MRI
    • Dr. Peter van Zijl
  • TR&D3: Functional MRI
    • Dr. James Pekar
    • Dr. Brian Caffo
  • TR&D4: Computational Anatomy Multi-Contrast Whole-Brain Analysis
    • Dr. Susumu Mori
    • Dr. Michael Miller

Internal Advisory Board

This is an inter-institutional advisory committee consisting of members from Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHU). This committee also reviews and governs the policies of the F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, which are initially formulated by the Protocol Review Committee (PRC), a subcommittee.

The Internal Advisory Board consists of the following members:

Kennedy Krieger Institute
    • Gary Goldstein, MD President, Professor of Neurology
    • Martha Denckla, MD, Professor of Neurology
    • Michael Cataldo, PhD, Professor of Behavioral Biology
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • Department of Radiology
    • Peter C.M. van Zijl, PhD, Director of the F.M. Kirby Research Center, Professor
    • James Pekar, PhD, Manager of the F.M. Kirby Research Center, Associate Professor
    • Paul Bottomley, PhD, Director of MRI Research, Professor
    • David Yousem, MD, Director of Neuroradiology, Professor
  • Center for Imaging Science
    • Michael Miller, Professor and Director
  • Department of Neurology
    • Peter Calabresi, MD, Professor
  • Department of Psychology
    • Steve Yantis, PhD, Professor
    • Susan Courtney, Associate Professor
  • Department of Psychiatry
    • Susan Bassett, MD, Professor

Protocol Review Committee

A subcommittee has been created to advise the Internal Advisory Board on matters relating to the operation of the MRI facility at the Kirby Center, including the formulation of equitable working policy concerning user access, safety, maintenance and management of the shared instrumentation facility. The subcommittee reviews and prioritize applications for the allocation of machine time. The members of this subcommittee, dubbed the Protocol Review Committee, have expertise in the various aspects of functional brain imaging, such as paradigm design, MR imaging and spectroscopy methodology, EEG methodology, etc. They are a broad representation of the users of the resource.

The Protocol Review Committee consists of the following members:
  • Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland
      • Chair: Henry Holcomb, MD, Professor (Chair of PRC)
  • Kennedy Krieger Institute
      • Martha Denckla, MD, Professor of Neurology
      • Walter Kaufmann, MD, Professor of Pathology and several other departments
  • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
    • Department of Radiology
      • Peter C.M. van Zijl, PhD, Director of the F.M. Kirby Research Center (ex officio)
      • James Pekar, PhD, Manager of the F.M. Kirby Research Center, Associate Professor (Vice-Chair)
      • Michael Kraut, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Kirby Center Medical Director
      • Peter B. Barker, PhD, Professor
    • Mind Brain Institute
      • Takashi Yoshioka, PhD, Associate Professor
    • Department of Neurology
      • Nathan Crone, PhD, Associate Professor
      • Marilyn Albert, PhD, Professor
    • Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
      • Steve Yantis, PhD, Professor
      • Susan Courtney, PhD Associate Professor

External Advisory Board

This committee meets annually to advise on scientific progress and on the progress of the center in terms of its goals of collaboration, service, training and dissemination. A yearly report is submitted to NCRR as part of the annual progress report. Over the years, members are rotated.

The current members of this board are:
    • Chair: John Gore, PhD
      Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Molecular Physiology, Biophysics, and Physics
      Founder and Director, Vanderbilt University Institute for Imaging Science
      Vanderbilt University
      Nashville, TN
      EXPERTISE: MRI methodology, molecular imaging, organization of large centers
    • Peter Bandettini, PhD
      CHIEF, Section on Functional Imaging Methods
      Laboratory of Brain and Cognition
      National Institute of Mental Health
      Bethesda, MD 20892-1148
      EXPERTISE: functional MRI approaches and data analysis
    • Robert Mulkern, Ph.D.
      Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School
      Children's Hospital
      Boston, MA
      EXPERTISE: MR spectroscopy, MR relaxation theory, magnetization transfer and saturation
    • Jens Jensen, PhD
      Associate Professor
      Center for Biomedical Imaging
      Department of Radiology
      New York University School of Medicine
      New York, NY
      EXPERTISE: Magnetic susceptibility modeling, diffusion, MRI theory
    • Michael W. Vannier, MD
      Professor of Radiology
      University of Chicago Medical Center
      Chicago, IL 60637
      EXPERTISE: Radiology, clinical applications of MRI and MRS, anatomical MRI
    • Lawrence Wald, Ph.D.
      Associate Professor of Radiology
      Massachusetts General Hospital
      A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
      Charlestown, MA 02129
      EXPERTISE: High field MRI, MRI physics
    • Lei Wang, PhD
      Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
      Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Radiology
      Chicago, IL 60611
      EXPERTISE: MRI data analysis, functional anatomy
© National Resource for Quantitative Functional MRI, 2001-
Funded by NIH/NCRR Grant P41 RR015241