Dr. Molly Bright
PI, Applied Neuro-Vascular Imaging Lab @ Northwestern University
We translate fMRI to study individual neurovascular function throughout the brain, brainstem, & spinal cord, with an emphasis on movement disorders.
brightlab.northwestern.edu
- I was nervous about the hooding part... There is minimal guidance given to uninitiated faculty! Happy to report no major mishaps 💪🥳
- Today was a very good day, and a rather big milestone for me as an academic scientist. I couldn't be more proud of my first three doctoral students, who have taught me so much, and who have such bright futures ahead of them. Congratulations Drs Hemmerling, Reddy, and Zvolanek!
- A simple proposal: journals, can you please adopt the concept of "business days"? Getting automatic review reminders on the Saturday AND Monday of a holiday weekend really irks me 🤨
- Breath hold fMRI is great for measuring CVR... *except when your participant or patient doesn't quite perform the task the way you'd like. Let's see if we can fix that! (Spoiler, it looks like we can, using the respiratory belt data to predict or fill in missing PETCO2 data!)
- Congrats to Becca Clements on her first first author paper from her PhD! Also, she convinced me that maybe deep learning CAN become part of our lab toolbox 🫣
- Huge congratulations to @kjhemm.bsky.social , now officially DOCTOR Hemmerling after a successful powerhouse of a thesis defense! Kim has taken all the stuff I know and love about imaging function and physiology of the human brain, and Made It Work in the cervical spinal cord. Brava, and thank you!
- Reposted by Dr. Molly BrightOn this day 2y ago we announced our move away from the huge profits that NeuroImage makes for Elsevier. Things at Imaging Neuroscience have progressed fantastically thanks to the support for this move by the brain imaging community and @mitpress.bsky.social. 565 papers published already!
- Reposted by Dr. Molly BrightNow there's a memorable stat! "Colleges and universities are among America’s most competitive international exporters. In dollar terms, last year, the United States sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it sold in natural gas and coal combined." wapo.st/3EvzMCI
- Reposted by Dr. Molly BrightTransparency matters when reporting results in neuroimaging! arxiv.org/abs/2504.07824 This could be a landmark in setting publishing standards for interpretability/reproducibility. Stellar work by @afni-pt.bsky.social @fmri-today.bsky.social @brightmg.bsky.social @gangchen6.bsky.social et al.
- We tell our trainees to really LOOK at their data, every step of the way. This paper takes that wisdom even further, so future external readers really see our neuroimaging results in all their complex glory 👏 Thanks @afni-pt.bsky.social for spearheading this amazing team effort!
- The result of a large (42 authors!) collaboration: "Go Figure: Transparency in neuroscience images preserves context and clarifies interpretation" arxiv.org/abs/2504.07824 TL;DR: The FMRI world can (and should) improve results interpretation and reproducibility *today*, via transparent thresholding.
- With the world the way it is, I'm extra appreciative of the clever, dedicated, curious trainees I get the privilege to work with and mentor. 👏 Happy Graduate Student Appreciation Week! 👏 www.tgs.northwestern.edu/services-sup... Northwestern students, make sure you get some goodies on offer 😁
- Northwestern (along with Cornell) appear now also targeted. I don't know what outcome to realistically hope for. I will hug my family extra tight tonight, reach out to my amazing trainees tomorrow, and try to do whatever good research I can do for as long as possible. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/u...
- Reposted by Dr. Molly BrightLikely hiring one postbac trainee for @fmri-today.bsky.social's Section on Functional Imaging Methods. Give the relatively later start time for the search, I'm not yet sure how quickly this search will happen. If you are interested, apply and reach out ASAP. fim.nimh.nih.gov
- Recruitment of postbacs & postdocs in the NIH IRP has resumed. I have no additional info beyond what is publicly stated on the website. www.training.nih.gov/research-tra...
- Some days, our lab's motto feels like it should be "how could we make fMRI harder?!" 😆 Then I remember that's another way of saying "how could we make fMRI more useful & interpretable?" Here's Michelle, an excellent PhD student translating proximal (e.g. shoulder) motor tasks into chronic stroke 💪
- Excited to visit University of Delaware next week - hope to see a few familiar faces and meet new potential collaborators!
- Proud PI #standupforscience2025 Chicago (in the snow)
- I am an extremely proud PI: Huge congratulations to Dr. Kristina Zvolanek and Dr. Neha Reddy, who both successfully defended their doctoral thesis research at Northwestern! They have been central to my lab's creation, defining our collaborative culture and setting high standards. I'm so grateful 🥹
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- Reposted by Dr. Molly BrightWelcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025! Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide! #scienceforall #sciencenotsilence
- Reposted by Dr. Molly Bright📢 Calling for submissions to the Special Issue on Open Datasets! 📢 Share your work on open data across key topics, such as: ⚖️ Ethical & legal considerations 🔧 Standards & tools 🌍 Geographical trends 💰 Funding 🌱 Data sustainability & more!
- 🚨 Call for Papers: Special Issue on Open Datasets 🚨 Aperture Neuro and Open Science SIG invite submissions in the form of original research, reviews, code, short communications, and more! 🖱️ Visit our website for more details: apertureneuro.org/pages/731-sp...
