Our Operational Teams

Our investigators and colleagues are underrtaking this project in phases, organizing into operational teams (OTs) to carry out the components of the project.

See also: Our Investigators, External Advisory Panel

OT1 MR Hardware, Pulse Sequences, Pre-processing

We have acquired a 3T Siemens Skyra scanner, which was delivered and installed at UMinn in November 2010. Skyra was completed in July 2011. Testing and performance optimization is being conducted by the highly experienced UMinn team. Once performance is optimized and stabilized, the scanner will be transferred to a newly renovated WashU facility. Phase II scanning is planned to commence at this point. Additionally, a new Siemens 7T scanner was purchased and installed permanently at UMinn for use on the HCP and other projects. The UMinn team will also fabricate new RF coils, which are essential for optimal scan performance.

Many optimization steps, including the development of pulse sequences and pre-processing methods, will be carried out to improve signal quality.

Team Member Leadership Role Institution
David Feinberg Co-Chair Investigator Berkeley
Mark Jenkinson Co-Chair Investigator Oxford
Avi Snyder Co-Chair Investigator WashU
Kamil Ugurbil Co-Chair Investigator UMinn
Essa Yacoub Co-Chair Investigator UMinn
Michael Garwood   Investigator UMinn
Christophe Lenglet   Investigator UMinn
Joshua Shimony   Investigator WashU
Guillermo Sapiro   Investigator UMinn
Stephen Smith   Investigator Oxford
Karla Miller   Consultant Oxford
Tunde Adeyamo   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Jesper Andersson   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Matthew Glasser   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Edward Auerbach   Scientific & Technical Team UMinn
Steen Moeller   Scientific & Technical Team UMinn
An Joseph Vu   Scientific & Technical Team UMinn
Junqian Gordon Xu   Scientific & Technical Team UMinn

OT2 HARDI Analysis

In Phase I, this team has been focused on the necessary tasks for the acquisition of pilot data, before the new scanners are operational, as a means for preparing for Phase II data acquisition.

Oxford is leading the collaborative team in a major effort to optimize fiber modeling and diffusion tractography. (Fiber modeling is critical for the accurate estimation of the number of fiber bundles and the orientation of each fiber bundle in white matter voxels. Tractography is a means of estimating fiber tracts and long-distance connections between gray matter regions.)

Team Member Leadership Role Institution
Tim Behrens Chair Investigator Oxford
Christophe Lenglet Co-Chair Investigator UMinn
Guillermo Sapiro Co-Chair Investigator UMinn
Michael Garwood   Investigator UMinn
Noam Harel   Investigator UMinn
Heidi Johansen-Berg   Investigator Oxford
Joshua Shimony   Investigator WashU
Kamil Ugurbil   Investigator UMinn
David Van Essen   Investigator WashU
Essa Yacoub   Investigator UMinn
Jesper Andersson   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Thomas Blumensath   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Matthew Glasser   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Moises Hernandez Fernandez   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Saad Jbabdi   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Stamatios Sotiropoulos   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford

OT3 R-fMRI, T-fMRI Analyses

Project Components:

The main methods for analyzing R-fMRI data are already established. WashU is leading the collaborative team in optimizing these methods, capitalizing on improved spatial resolution and established analysis of connectivity gradients. Task fMRI data analysis, however, is still a very new field.

Working with Dr. Nichols of Warwick University, the team is determining which tasks and parameters provide the best activations, and establishing optimal parameters for both 3T and 7T scanners. We are also refining analysis methods to characterize the spatial patterns of task activation, and implementing a semi-automated T-fMRI analysis stream. Results will be stored in the ConnectomeDB.

Team Member Leadership Role Institution
Steve Petersen Chair Investigator WashU
Deanna Barch Co-Chair Investigator WashU
Stephen Smith Co-Chair Investigator Oxford
Christian Beckmann   Investigator Donders
Maurizio Corbetta   Investigator WashU
Pascal Fries   Investigator ESI
Noam Harel   Investigator UMinn
Thomas Nichols   Investigator Warwick
Marc Raichle   Investigator WashU
Brad Schlaggar   Investigator WashU
Joshua Shimony   Investigator WashU
Avi Snyder   Investigator WashU
Kamil Ugurbil   Investigator UMinn
David Van Essen   Investigator WashU
Essa Yacoub   Investigator UMinn
Mark Woolrich   Consultant Oxford
Jeff Zacks   Consultant WashU
James Bjork   NIH Science Officer NIH
Tunde Adeyamo   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Gregor Adriany   Scientific & Technical Team UMinn
Jesper Andersson   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Thomas Blumensath   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Edward Bryant   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Greg Burgess   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Eugene Duff   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Cindy Feldt   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Glenn Foster   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Matthew Glasser   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Corinne Guilday   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Michael Harms   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Linda Hood   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Brooke Kinsaul   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Tim Laumann   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Julie Mannarino   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Lindsey McIntyre   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Fran Miezen   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Mauro Gianni Perrucci   Scientific & Technical Team UdA
Joshua Prince   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Reza Salimi-Khorshidi   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford

OT4 MEG / EEG Acquisition and Analysis

Project Components:

No hardware refinements will be needed for the MEG scanner housed at SLU and the capability for simultaneous EEG acquisition is already in place. However, a major effort is being made to optimize the processes for data acquisition and analysis.

WashU is currently leading a multi-institutional effort to determine: whether to include simultaneous MEG/EEG acquisition in Phase II; whether the MEG acquisition in the infraslow (nominally, <1 Hz) frequency range will be feasible; which task paradigms to select for Phase II; and how best to optimize pre-processing. Additionally, the Frankfurt group and the Chieti-UdA group are leading the optimization of inverse source modeling, a key to integrating electrophysical data with the parcellated connectome.

Team Member Leadership Role Institution
Avi Snyder Chair Investigator WashU
Richard Bucholz Co-Chair Investigator SLU
Pascal Fries Co-Chair Investigator ESI
Linda Larson-Prior Co-Chair Investigator WashU
Gian Luca Romani Co-Chair Investigator UdA
Maurizio Corbetta   investigator WashU
Stefania Della Penna   Investigator UdA
Robert Oostenveld   Investigator Donders
Vittorio Pizzela   Investigator UdA
Fred Prior   Investigator WashU
Marc Raichle   Investigator WashU
Tyler Roskos   Investigator SLU
Mark Woolrich   Consultant Oxford
Francesco de Pasquale   Scientific & Technical Team UdA
Francesco Di Pompeo   Scientific & Technical Team UdA
Lynda Kull   Scientific & Technical Team SLU
Laura Marzetti   Scientific & Technical Team UdA
George Michalareas   Scientific & Technical Team ESI
Tracy Nolan   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Jan-Mathijs Schoffelen   Scientific & Technical Team Donders

OT5 Recruitment, Behavioral Testing, and Genotyping

Dr. Heath and his staff at WashU have well-established methods for recruiting a large cohort of subjects, using the Missouri Family registry. In Phase I optimization, we are refining our telephone screening interview to identify eligible families and develop ways to encourage participation.

Behavioral tests for neuroimaging from the NIH Toolbox and other sources are being selected by the WashU team. The renovated WashU facility will include a dedicated suite of behavioral testing rooms and associated staff offices, located within 100 feet of the MR scanner. The team will establish processes for acquiring, storing and shipping blood samples to the NIH-sponsored repository. Genotyping will be carried out in year 5 to avoid batch effects.

Team Member Leadership Role Institution
Deanna Barch Chair Investigator WashU
Alison Goate Co-Chair Investigator WashU
Andrew Heath Co-Chair Investigator WashU
Maurizio Corbetta   Investigator WashU
Steve Petersen   Investigator WashU
Mike Province   Investigator WashU
Brad Schlaggar   Investigator WashU
Kamil Ugurbil   Investigator UMinn
Richard Gershon   Consultant NorthU
Len Green   Consultant WashU
Mark Mintun   Consultant WashU
Joel Myerson   Consultant WashU
Joel Perlmutter   Consultant WashU
James Bjork   NIH Science Officer NIH
Edward Bryant   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Greg Burgess   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Cindy Feldt   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Corinne Guilday   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Brooke Kinsaul   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Julie Mannarino   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Lindsey McIntyre   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Leah Newcomer   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Joshua Prince   Scientific & Technical Team WashU

OT6 Cross-Modal Integration, Modeling

WashU and Oxford are leading the effort to relate connectome datasets from various scan imaging technologies to identified cortical and subcortical parcels (subdivisions), using architectonic and other data, and by developing novel methods of connectivity-based parcellation. Dr. Sporns of Indiana is leading the collaborative team in developing data models based on graph theory, to relate findings in individuals and across populations to behavior, heritability, and genetics.

Team Member Leadership Role Institution
Olaf Sporns Chair Investigator Indiana
Pascal Fries Co-Chair Investigator ESI
Steve Petersen Co-Chair Investigator WashU
Stephen Smith Co-Chair Investigator Oxford
Deanna Barch   Investigator WashU
Christian Beckmann   Investigator Donders
Tim Behrens   Investigator Oxford
Maurizio Corbetta   Investigator WashU
Stefania Della Penna   Investigator UdA
Alison Goate   Investigator WashU
Mark Jenkinson   Investigator Oxford
Heidi Johansen-Berg   Investigator Oxford
Christophe Lenglet   Investigator UMinn
Thomas Nichols   Investigator Warwick
Vittorio Pizzela   Investigator UdA
Mike Province   Investigator WashU
Gian Luca Romani   Investigator UdA
Guillermo Sapiro   Investigator UMinn
Avi Snyder   Investigator WashU
David Van Essen   Investigator WashU
Mark Woolrich   Consultant Oxford
Tunde Adeyamo   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Gregor Adriany   Scientific & Technical Team UMinn
Thomas Blumensath   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Francesco de Pasquale   Scientific & Technical Team UdA
Eugene Duff   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Matthew Glasser   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Saad Jbabdi   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Tim Laumann   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Emma Robinson   Scientific & Technical Team Oxford
Gagan Wig   Scientific & Technical Team WashU

OT7 Informatics, Usability and Outreach

Project Components:

During Phase I, this team is establishing a robust informatics infrastructure that can support the complex set of data storage, analysis and quality control needs of the HCP team. A user-friendly and powerful set of analysis, visualization and search tools are being developed to enable neuroscientists to begin exploring the human connectome. The team is also building infrastructure and processes for creating awareness of and enthusiasm for the fruits of the HCP endeavor.

Team Member Leadership Role Institution
Daniel Marcus Chair Investigator WashU
David Van Essen Co-Chair Investigator WashU
Stephen Smith Co-Chair Investigator Oxford
Deanna Barch   Investigator WashU
Mark Jenkinson   Investigator Oxford
Fred Prior   Investigator WashU
Mike Province   Investigator WashU
Marc Raichle   Investigator WashU
Brad Schlaggar   Investigator WashU
Joel Perlmutter   Consultant WashU
Tunde Adeyamo   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Greg Burgess   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Eileen Cler   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Tim Coalson   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Donna Dierker   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Jennifer Elam   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Matthew Glasser   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
John Harwell   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Michael Hileman   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Mike Hodge   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Will Horton   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Matthew House   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Tim Laumann   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Mike McKay   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
Erin Reid   Scientific & Technical Team WashU
John Strupp   Scientific & Technical Team UMinn

Steering Committee

Team Member Role Institution
David Van Essen Primary Investigator (Contact) WashU
Maurizio Corbetta Investigator WashU
Michael Garwood Investigator UMinn
Andrew Heath Investigator WashU
Steve Petersen Investigator WashU
Marc Raichle Investigator WashU
Stephen Smith Investigator Oxford

Operations Committee

Team Member Role Institution
David Van Essen Primary Investigator (Contact) WashU
Deanna Barch Investigator WashU
Tim Behrens Investigator Oxford
Richard Bucholz Investigator SLU
Pascal Fries Investigator ESI
Alison Goate Investigator WashU
Mark Jenkinson Investigator Oxford
Daniel Marcus Investigator WashU
Steve Petersen Investigator WashU
Gian Luca Romani Investigator UdA
Guillermo Sapiro Investigator UMinn
Stephen Smith Investigator Oxford
Avi Snyder Investigator WashU
Essa Yacoub Investigator UMinn