My passion as a graduate student and post-doctoral fellow has been to examine altered neural circuit function in a variety of human diseases including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, psychotic depression, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington disease, and epilepsy. The primary tool I have used in these studies has been diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging – a promising new technique to examine the health and organization of the brain’s white matter fibers. In addition to this work I have also used structural magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, electroencephalography, and local field potential analysis to examine the function of neural tissue during various cognitive tasks and at rest. These experiments require extensive collaboration and cooperation among various research groups across the University of Iowa campus as well as across the world.

Recent publications