Contact name: Florin Dolcos
Contact email: fdolcos@illinois.edu

Dr. Andrea Shafer, Duke University, will lecture "

Individual Differences in Cognitive Aging; Transitioning from the Academic to Industry Approach to Research

Contact name: Aaron Anderson
Contact email: aandrsn3@illinois.edu

Dr. Jon-Fredrik Nielsen, Research Associate Professor in the fMRI laboratory at University of Michigan, will lecture on, "Harmonizing MRI data acquisition with Pulseq: Why, how, and current state of the field."

 Abstract: A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) experiment is fundamentally very simple: It consists of radiofrequency (RF) and quasi-static magnetic fields that vary in time according to a desired schedule. The hardware to make that happen is ubiquitous and available from several commercial vendors, with nearly identical performance specifications across vendors. Unfortunately, the high degree of harmonization that exists on the hardware side is not matched on the software side: The programming interfaces that allow the sequence designer to control the time-varying magnetic fields are unique to each vendor and difficult to learn, which has (1) resulted in MRI protocols (pulse sequences) that cannot be ported between vendor platforms or even described accurately to a third party, (2) slowed down new pulse sequence development by creating “siloed” developer communities with a high barrier to entry, and (3) made it difficult to know if any observed differences in MRI measurements between sites is due to true biological variation or differences in sequence implementation. Pulseq is both an open file specification for MRI pulse sequences and an associated ecosystem of programming tools and vendor-specific interpreters (drivers) that overcome these barriers. Pulseq has seen significant growth within the pulse sequence developer community in the last 1-2 years, and interpreters for all major MRI vendors are, or will likely soon be, available. In this talk I will describe our role in the Pulseq project including our experience developing a Pulseq interpreter for one of the vendor platforms (GE), and our ongoing efforts to develop and evaluate a Pulseq functional MRI protocol that we hope will enable robust, truly harmonized multi-site and longitudinal functional studies. 

  Bio: Dr. Jon-Fredrik Nielsen is Research Associate Professor in the fMRI laboratory at University of Michigan, specializing in MRI sequence design and implementation. He created and manages the Pulseq interpreter for GE scanners, and is co-PI of the HarmonizedMRI project that seeks to implement and disseminate vendor-agnostic functional and quantitative neuroimaging protocols for more reproducible MRI research. 

Contact name: Mollie Stevens
Contact email: mollie@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-2603

Join members of the Beckman community for informal conversation and coffee in the atrium!

Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu

Join us at noon on Wednesdays for yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. All are welcome to bring their own mat! 

Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-8373

Director Maren will provide updates on planning for a spring showcase, strategic planning, new Beckman faculty and staff, and more. After the town hall, stay for an hour of conversation and treats!

Have a question for the director? Submit it in advance here.

Contact name: Mollie Stevens
Contact email: mollie@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 12172442603

Join members of the Beckman community at 3 pm for coffee and cookies in Beckman Institute, 

5602.

Come early at 2 pm for the Fall 2024 Beckman Town Hall. Director Maren will provide updates on planning for a spring showcase, strategic planning, new Beckman faculty and staff, and more. Question for the director? 

Submit it in advance here.

Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu

Beckman Director Steve Maren will be hosting a weekly Director’s Coffee Hour at 9 a.m. on Fridays at one of the nearby coffee shops (the Daily Byte or Espresso Royale) until the Beckman Café reopens. It's a great opportunity to get to know your new director and for him to get to know you and your research. Steve's buying! 

Please contact Stacy for details on meeting Steve.

Contact name: Mollie Stevens
Contact email: mollie@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-2603

Join members of the Beckman community for informal conversation and coffee in the atrium!

Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu

Join us at noon on Wednesdays for yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. All are welcome to bring their own mat! 

Contact name: Mollie Stevens
Contact email: mollie@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-2603

Join members of the Beckman community for informal conversation and coffee in the atrium!

Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu

Beckman Director Steve Maren will be hosting a weekly Director’s Coffee Hour at 9 a.m. on Fridays at one of the nearby coffee shops (the Daily Byte or Espresso Royale) until the Beckman Café reopens. It's a great opportunity to get to know your new director and for him to get to know you and your research. Steve's buying! 

Please contact Stacy for details on meeting Steve.

Contact name: Mollie Stevens
Contact email: mollie@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 12172442603

Join members of the Beckman community for coffee and cookies in the Beckman Atrium. The Cookie Collab is scheduled for 3 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month. 

Contact name: Diane Beck
Contact email: dmbeck@illinois.edu

The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology are developing a campus-wide initiative to expand the university's capacity for interdisciplinary AI-powered basic science research, to complement other related campus efforts in this space.

 Fully unlocking the potential of artificial intelligence for basic science is nontrivial and bridging computational and scientific fields requires research teams to have unique knowledge, practices, and infrastructure. Successful examples already exist on campus. The purpose of this initiative is to distill, develop, and disseminate lessons from these pioneering efforts as well as create new connections. The objective is to bring together researchers currently working at this interface, those whose science could benefit from AI solutions, and AI researchers interested in applying their techniques to a new scientific domain.

 The AI for Basic Science initiative is planning an initial workshop for the morning of January 17. More details, including speakers and full agenda, will be announced soon but please save the date. We hope to see you there!

Interested in attending? Please register here.

Registration link

Contact name: Cristina Alvarez-Mingote
Contact email: alvarez9@illinois.edu

Welcome to the Beckman Institute! In this onboarding session, new Beckman faculty and affiliates will learn from Associate Director for Research Cristina Álvarez-Mingote what Beckman Institute services are available, who to contact with questions, and how to be a collaborative and fully engaged member of the Beckman community. 

Please

register

Contact name: Hannah Jones
Contact email: hjons@illinois.edu

This mini conference will connect Illinois researchers studying aging. It includes coffee and PI lightning talks followed by lunch and poster presentations. Participants must use this link to register by

Dec. 14, 2024

Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu

Beckman Director Steve Maren will be hosting a weekly Director’s Coffee Hour at 9 a.m. on Fridays at one of the nearby coffee shops (the Daily Byte or Espresso Royale) until the Beckman Café reopens. It's a great opportunity to get to know your new director and for him to get to know you and your research. Steve's buying! 

Please contact Stacy for details on meeting Steve.

Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu

Beckman Director Steve Maren will be hosting a weekly Director’s Coffee Hour at 9 a.m. on Fridays at one of the nearby coffee shops (the Daily Byte or Espresso Royale) until the Beckman Café reopens. It's a great opportunity to get to know your new director and for him to get to know you and your research. Steve's buying! 

Please contact Stacy for details on meeting Steve.