Lab Members
Principal Investigator
Dr. Jean Chen
PhD Biomedical Engineering
McGill University
jchen at research dot baycrest dot org
Positions
- 2011 – present, Director, Neuroimaging Lab at Baycrest
- 2018 – present, Senior Scientist, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest
- 2018 – present, Associate Professor, Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto
- 2011 – 2018, Scientist, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest
- 2011 – 2018, Assistant Professor, Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto
Education
- 2009 – 2011, Postdoc, Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
- 2005 – 2009, PhD, Biomedical Engineering, McGill University
- 2002 – 2004, MSc, Electrical Engineering, University of Calgary
Dr. Jean Chen is a Full Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She is also a Senior Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute and Tier II Canada Research Chair in Neuroimaging of Aging. In addition, Dr. Chen heads the Chen Lab (Research in Advanced Neuroimaging using MRI). Her research is funded by the CIHR, NSERC and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Her educational background includes an MSc (2004) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Calgary, and a PhD (2009) in Biomedical Engineering from McGill University. She completed her postdoctoral work on multimodal MRI of brain aging at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical School (2011).
Dr. Chen’s research involves developing techniques for using resting-state functional MRI, cerebrovascular-reactivity mapping, diffusion MRI and simultaneous EEG-fMRI to understand the link between brain metabolism and vascular health, including healthy aging, mild-cognitive impairment, late-life depression, hypertension, diabetes, and stroke.
Current Lab Members
Current Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Seyedmohammad Shams
Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD Bio-electrical Engineering
University of Tehran
Dr. Shams’ research interests lie primarily at the intersection of functional neuroimaging modalities (especially fMRI data and EEG), machine learning algorithms, statistical inferences and the methods of time-frequency analysis. The theme of Dr. Shams’ research is to establish practical algorithms for multi-subject activation detection, identifying functional brain networks, and approximating blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal response shape from fMRI data. His research has contributed to the development of algorithms that address the problems in functional neuroimaging in a wide range of applications of computational methods to better understand the function of the brain. Over the last 10 years, he has built ample skills in mathematical methods; including statistical pattern recognition and digital image processing besides methods for preprocessing and processing EEG, structural and functional MRI, that are useful for developing new frameworks to investigate the physiological basis and neural mechanism underlying fMRI.
Current Doctoral Students
Jordan Chad
PhD Candidate
MSc Theoretical Physics
University of Toronto
Jordan’s research focuses on using diffusion MRI (dMRI) to model brain microstructure based on the pattern of microscopic diffusion of water molecules through brain tissue. Jordan’s research goal is the comparison, validation and optimization of mathematical models of brain microstructure derived from dMRI, with a special focus on separating out the effect of extracellular free water molecules from the dMRI signal to improve the specificity of these models to processes that occur within brain tissue.
Zachary Zhong
PhD Candidate
B.Eng Electrical and Biomedical Engineering
McMaster University.
Zachary’s project focus is on analyzing the relationship between electrophysiological signal and BOLD signal.
Current Masters Students
Current Research Staff
Jacob Matthews
MRI Specialist
MSc Medical Biophysics
University of Western Ontario
jmatthews at research dot baycrest dot org
Jacob Matthews is the MRI Specialist at the Rotman Research Institute, working within Dr. Chen’s research lab. He received both an Honours Bachelor of Medical Science and a Master of Science in Medical Biophysics from the University of Western Ontario. His Master’s research was conducted out of the Robarts Research Institute and the Brain and Mind Institute, involving laminar functional imaging of auditory cortex using fMRI at 7T. His current work includes consulting on MRI experimental design, acquisition, and analysis, maintaining the ancillary equipment for MRI research, testing and reporting on newly available MRI technology, and acting as a resource person for the wider Rotman community. He also conducts research within Dr. Chen’s lab.
Current Research Assistants
Lydia Sun
BSc Neuroscience and Statistical Science
University of Toronto
2019
Current Co-op Students
Jacob Chausse
Co-op Student
Nanotechnology Engineering
University of Waterloo
Jacob is working on programming Monte Carlo models of the fMRI BOLD signal to provide comparisons of modeling techniques and a create versatile modeling tool.
Current Undergraduate Research Students
Ana Han
Summer Student
Health Sciences
McMaster University
Ana is currently a summer student whose research is on using fixel-based analysis to analyse diffusion MRI data. She is focused on studying the selective degeneration of white matter tracts in aging.
Arjun Patel
Summer Student
Biology & PNB
McMaster University
Arjun is currently a summer student studying white matter microstructure in association with cognition. He is focused on studying diffusion MRI and the use of free water (FW) as a biomarker for cognitive and functional decline.
Current Visiting Students
Current External Collaborating Students
Current Volunteers
Lab Alumni
Past Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Aras Kayvanrad
Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD Biomedical Engineering
The University of Western Ontario
2017-2019
Dr. Ali Golestani
Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD Electrical Engineering
University of Calgary
2013-2016
Dr. Sungho Tak
Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD Biomedical Engineering
Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
2012-2014
Past Doctoral Students
Zahra Faraji-Dana
PhD Graduate
Medical Biophysics
University of Toronto
Degree Awarded: September 2016
Past Masters Students
Azin Esmaelbeigi
MSc Graduate
MSc Medical Biophysics
University of Toronto
Degree Awarded: January 2020
Azin is working on quantitative mapping of cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) using resting state fMRI. She is focusing on healthy elderly to study the effect of age on CVR. She is also interested in looking at the changes in characteristics of physiological hemodynamic response functions during aging. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in Biomedical Physics, minoring in Mathematics. She defended her Masters degree with the Cranium Lab at the end of 2019.
Don Ragot
MSc Graduate
Medical Biophysics
University of Toronto
Degree Awarded: March 2018
Powell Chu
MSc Graduate
Medical Biophysics
University of Toronto
Degree Awarded: August 2016
Jonathan Kwinta
MSc Graduate
Medical Biophysics
University of Toronto
Degree Awarded: January 2016
Past Undergraduate Thesis Students
Om Batt
Undergraduate Thesis Student
Engineering Science
University of Toronto
2012
Past Research Staff
Yasha Khatamian
fMRI Engineer
MEng. Biomedical Engineering
McGill University
2011-2016
Annette Weekes
Senior MR Technologist
Past Research Assistants
Ahmad Hussein
Research Assistant
BSc Nanotechnology
University of Waterloo
2018-2022
Nick Teller
Research Assistant
BSc Health Sciences
McMaster University
2020-2022
Shreyas Harita
Research Assistant
MSc Neuroscience
Queen’s University
2018-2019
Abhay Issar
Undergraduate Student, Life Sciences
University of Toronto
2016-2017
Sheliza Halani
Research Assistant
BSc Electrical Engineering
University of British Columbia
2014
Past Co-op Students
Paul Chang
Co-op Student
Biomedical Engineering
University of Waterloo
2021
Jillian Krotz
Co-op Student
Biomedical Engineering
University of Waterloo
2020
Chironjeev Kanjilal
Co-op student
Physics
University of British Columbia
2017
James Ward
Co-op Student
University of British Columbia
2017
Sarah Dyck
Co-op student
Life Physics
University of Waterloo
2017
David Lin
Co-op student
Nanotechnology Engineering
University of Waterloo
2017
Emma Langlois
Co-op student
Life Physics
University of Waterloo
2017
Nicole Yuen
Co-op student
Life Physics (Hon.)
University of Waterloo
2016
Lucy Wei
Co-op student
Biophysics (Hon.)
University of British Columbia
2015
Nathaniel Osachoff
Co-op student
Engineering Physics
University of British Columbia
2015
Kathy Xu
Co-op student
Electrical Engineering
University of British Columbia
2013
Past Undergraduate Research Students
Hiba Taha
Summer Student
Neuroscience
University of Toronto
2020-2022
Jigar Lad
Summer Student
B.Sc. Medical Physics
McMaster University
2020
Megan Scarlett
Summer Web Dev Staff
Dalhousie University
2018
William Kim
Summer Student
Physics
Queen’s University
2017
Josephine Tan
Summer Student
Biological and Medical Physics
University of Guelph
2017
Barry Fung
Undergraduate Researcher
Engineering Science
University of Toronto
2014
Lily Lau
Undergraduate Researcher
Engineering Science
University of Toronto
2013
Tim Liu
Undergraduate Researcher
Engineering Science
University of Toronto
2012
Past External Collaborating Students
Nok Srisaikaew
Visiting Student
Anatomy
Chiang Mai University
2020-2021
Jean Hautier
Visiting Student
Mathematics and Modelisation
2020
Past Volunteers
Amy Lin
Volunteer
BSc Biochemistry and Neuroscience
University of Toronto
alin at research dot baycrest dot org
Dan Tran
Undergraduate Student
Neuroscience
McGill University
2017