David Boas, PhD
Biography: Boas is an internationally recognized expert in biomedical optics and is a pioneer in the emerging field of neurophotonics, which utilizes advances in photonics to further our understanding of the brain. He has recently joined BU from the radiology department at Massachusetts General Hospital, where his research led to breakthrough optical methods to study […]
Xiaojun Cheng, PhD
Areas of Interest Brain imaging, speckle-based techniques, functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), microscopy. Research Areas Our research revolves around cutting-edge speckle-based optical techniques to measure both animal and human brain dynamics and function, particularly laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) and speckle contrast optical spectroscopy (SCOS). We are also working on other brain imaging modalities including […]
Anna Devor, PhD
Biography: Devor has a broad background in cellular and systems-level neuroscience. Her research program is focused on real time detection of brain activity across scales. Devor and her collaborators assemble a suite of microscopic technologies that, collectively, allow precise and quantitative probing of a large number of concrete brain activity parameters. Then, they combine multimodal […]
Xue Han, PhD
Biography: Han joined the biomedical engineering faculty in 2010. She is a pioneer in the field of optogenetics, in which scientists reengineer nerve cells, or neurons, to respond to light, using molecules called opsins. By finding ways to implant opsins into neurons, Han has given researchers a simple tool to turn neurons on and off, […]
Michael Hasselmo, DPhil
Biography: A leading researcher in neuroscience, Hasselmo uses electrophysiological recording to study how the firing patterns of neurons may contribute to memory-guided behavior. As director of the Center for Systems Neuroscience, he supports collaborations among brain behavior researchers from the Charles River and Medical Campuses. He is the principal investigator of a new Multidisciplinary University […]
Mark Howe, PhD
Biography: Driven by questions of motivation and movement, Howe’s research is focused on gaining deeper understanding of neural mechanisms and circuitry. By studying functional and dysfunctional neural systems, Howe aims to inform treatment approaches for Parkinson’s disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction. Howe developed a novel approach to striatum imaging that contributed to groundbreaking findings in […]
Steve Ramirez, PhD
Biography: Ramirez aims to “learn how memory works and then how to hijack it.” His research focuses on revealing the neural circuit mechanisms of memory storage and retrieval, and artificially modulating memories to combat maladaptive states. Using optogenetics, Ramirez has located memory traces in the mouse brain and has explored how to reactivate these traces, […]
Benjamin Scott, PhD
Biography: In 2018, Scott joined the psychological and brain sciences department, where he directs the Laboratory of Comparative Cognition. His research revolves around the development and application of new tools to study the neural basis of cognition and complex, learned behavior, with a focus on working memory, problem-solving, and decision-making. His team is delving into […]
Matthias Stangl, PhD
Biography: Research in Stangl’s lab focuses on how the human brain supports critical cognitive and behavioral functions in our everyday life, such as spatial navigation and memory, and on the neural mechanisms that underlie age-related impairments in these functions. From a methodological perspective, his team employs novel neurotechnologies and advanced methodologies such as deep brain […]
Chantal E. Stern, DPhil
Biography: Stern is an expert in human brain imaging and was a member of the research team that pioneered the development of functional magnetic resonance imaging, including early work focusing on the human hippocampus. Her lab’s primary goal is to study how the normal brain encodes, stores, and subsequently recognizes visual, spatial, and verbal information. […]