Please join us in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the Technological Institute for a Meet-the-Faculty seminar with Professor Molly Bright.

Student Introduction by Trevor Kling from 3:45 pm - 3:55 pm.

Abstract: Functional MRI offers unique promise for non-invasively mapping activity throughout the central nervous system, yet numerous challenges have kept it from clinical translation. Our lab works to overcome these challenges, using fMRI to characterize individual neuropathophysiology and to guide the optimization and personalization of rehabilitative interventions. Central to this goal is precision fMRI: by densely sampling individuals across repeated scans and tailoring how we acquire and model their data, we can generate reliable maps of function in a single person rather than relying on group averages. To support this, we have developed bespoke MRI-compatible devices that enable controlled, repeatable, and quantitative motor tasks during scanning. Because such tasks inevitably cause head motion, particularly in patient populations, we have pioneered multi-echo fMRI acquisition and signal-modeling approaches that mitigate these artifacts and improve the sensitivity and specificity of activation mapping. Motor control relies on neural pathways that span the central nervous system and connect the brain with the body, so we are pushing fMRI methodology to map sensorimotor activity in the cortex, subcortex, cerebellum, brainstem, and spinal cord. We pair this neural mapping with our lab's long-standing expertise in imaging vascular dynamics, to better understand how vascular dysfunction contributes to neurodegeneration and functional impairment. This effort has produced the first fMRI characterization of spinal cord hemodynamics in humans, with individual-level maps revealing regional differences in vascular response timing that appear to reflect the cord's arterial supply and functional anatomy. Finally, I will share recent results from a clinical trial in multiple sclerosis, where we use motor-task fMRI to examine the neural effects of acute intermittent hypoxia, an emerging breathing-based therapy, illustrating how these tools can bring fMRI closer to clinical impact.

Bio: Dr. Molly Bright is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences at Northwestern University, where she leads the Applied Neuro-Vascular Imaging Lab (ANVIL). Her lab develops advanced MRI techniques, from MRI-compatible devices to new acquisition and signal-modeling approaches, to assess neural activity, vascular physiology, and their interaction throughout the human central nervous system, with an emphasis on translation to people with motor impairments. Following an S.B. in physics from MIT, she received her D.Phil. from the University of Oxford through a collaboration with the US National Institutes of Health. She completed postdoctoral training at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), incorporating new physiological stimuli, imaging modalities, and fMRI processing techniques into her research. As an independent Anne McLaren Fellow at the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre in Nottingham, the birthplace of MRI, she developed ultra-high-field methods for studying cerebral physiology in neurological disease. She joined Northwestern in 2018. She has held elected positions in the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) and the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM), and co-founded the Imaging Cerebral Physiology Network. She serves on the editorial board of Imaging Neuroscience and as a handling editor for Aperture Neuro, and as the Chair of the Advisory Board for physiopy, reflecting her commitment to community-driven academic publishing and open science.