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. Chen was trained at the Montreal Neurological Institute and the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. Her current research revolves around the theme of novel methodological development for the study of brain physiology in aging and age-related brain diseases. Her specific interests include studying the neurovascular and electrophysiological mechanisms underlying resting-state fMRI.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Om Batt
Undergraduate Thesis Student
Engineering Science
University of Toronto
2012

Yasha Khatamian
fMRI Engineer
MEng. Biomedical Engineering
McGill University
2011-2016

Annette Weekes
Senior MR Technologist

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

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

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

Nok Srisaikaew
Visiting Student
Anatomy
Chiang Mai University
2020-2021

Jean Hautier
Visiting Student
Mathematics and Modelisation
2020

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