Main Page
Kimel Family Translational-Imaging Genetics Research Lab
The major aim of the Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Laboratory is to combine brain imaging and genetics in order to understand how genes influence brain structure and brain function. Our major neuroimaging techniques include diffusion tensor imaging, which maps the white matter pathways of the brain, cortical thickness mapping, surface area, and subcortical morphometry which collectively provide sophisticated analysis of gray matter morphology. By using the imaging-genetics approach in both healthy controls and individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g. schizophrenia), we can move closer to answering how genes confer risk in the brain for psychiatric symptoms and changes in cognitive function. We are studying individuals across the lifespan, as we have a particular interest in age-related brain change, and how genes can influence trajectories of healthy brain aging and resilience compared to pathological aging (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease). Finally, we are also combining brain stimulation approaches with brain imaging to understand how the brain can change itself.
Current projects
- Studying altered brain connections in schizophrenia patients, using diffusion tensor imaging and correlations/covariance of cortical thickness
- Studying the effects of risk genes on brain structures and pathways
- Identifying brain structures and connections that predict cognitive performance and cognitive changes with aging
- Identifying how genes involved in brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease influence brain structure and cognitive function
- Identifying how brain connections predict brain activity (by combining brain imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS))
- Identifying how repetitive TMS causes positive brain change, and the genetic predictors of such change
- A high-resolution in vivo atlas of the hippocampus
- Software for automated segmentation of the hippocampus
Lab members
- Dr. Aristotle Voineskos (head)
- Dr. Mallar Chakravarty, Image Analysis Scientist
- Dr. Anne Wheeler, postdoctoral fellow
- Daniel Felsky, graduate student
- Tristram Lett, graduate student
- Jon Pipitone, graduate student
- Julie Winterburn, practicum student
- Aysah Amath, Research Analyst
- David Rotenberg, Research Methods Specialist
Partnerships
- Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
- Ontario Health Study
