Molly Bright

Our research uses advanced imaging techniques to assess the interaction of neural activity and vascular physiology in healthy brains and neurological disease. This involves the design and implementation of tools to stimulate or monitor human physiology during MRI scanning, and the development of specialized MRI acquisition methods to characterize neurovascular function. In combination with bespoke signal processing pipelines developed in our lab, we aim to produce robust quantitative imaging biomarkers for studying Multiple Sclerosis, fatigue, migraine, stroke, dementia, spinal cord injury, and the response of individual patients to personalised therapeutic interventions.

Following a B.S. in physics from MIT, Dr. Bright received her D.Phil. from the University of Oxford as part of a collaboration with the US National Institutes of Health, working with Peter Jezzard at the Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB) and Jeff Duyn in the Advanced MRI group of NINDS. She completed post-doctoral training at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), incorporating new physiological stimuli, additional imaging modalities, and advanced fMRI processing techniques to her research. She then moved to Nottingham as an independent Anne McLaren Fellow, to develop ultra-high-field MR imaging methods for studying cerebral physiology in neurological diseases at the world-leading Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, the birthplace of MRI. In 2018, she returned home to America to lead the Applied Neuro-Vascular Imaging Lab (ANVIL) at Northwestern University.

The Applied Neuro-Vascular Imaging Lab focuses on advanced MRI techniques to assess the interaction of neural activity and vascular physiology in healthy brains and neurological disease or impairment. This involves the design and implementation of tools to stimulate or monitor human physiology during MRI scanning, and the development of specialized MRI acquisition methods to characterize neuro-vascular function. In combination with bespoke signal processing pipelines developed in our lab, we aim to produce robust quantitative imaging biomarkers for studying stroke, Cerebral Palsy, Spinal Cord Injury, Parkinson's Disease, and the response of individual patients to personalized therapeutic interventions. This work is in collaboration with Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Neurology, Radiology, the Center for Translational Imaging, the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience program, and the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab.