Meet the Team!

The Graham Lab consists of people with diverse science and engineering backgrounds.

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Fred Tam
Lab Manager

Fred manages resources and various neuroimaging projects. He is involved in technical development and analysis, specifically working with the MRI-compatible tablet and other fMRI device development.

Lorelie Lacson
Dr. Graham\'s Administrative Assistant

Lorelie provides support for the Graham Neuroimaging Lab, handling inquiries related to recruitment, information about the lab, and more.
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Ben Yang
Research Engineer

Ben works on the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and parallel radiofrequency transmission (pTx) projects. For more details, visit Here.
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Marina Silic
Master\'s Student, University of Toronto

Marina, with a background in Mechatronic Systems engineering, focuses on collecting head motion data in MRI for motion correction. Her work involves fabricating a custom optical fiducial marker and developing an artificial intelligence (AI) model to track head motion. These motion data can be used to characterize head motion, validate other MR motion correction methods, and perform retrospective motion correction. For more details, visit here.
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Jason Rock
Master\'s Student, University of Toronto

Jason completed his BSc in Physics with a focus in experimental and particle physics at the University of Toronto, having an interest in pursuing a clinical medical physics role in nuclear medicine or radiation therapy in the future. He is co-supervised by Dr. Graham and Dr. Jamie Near, and is working on developing a parallel radio-frequency transmission (pTx) MRI hardware for whole brain slice magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI). MRSI can be used to study neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, and ALS. In Dr. Near’s lab, Jason is focusing mainly on Alzheimer\'s, with recent work starting in ALS.
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Maryam Arianpouya
PhD Student, University of Toronto

Maryam completed her MSc in Medical Physics at Macquarie University of Sydney, Australia, and joined the lab in 2020. Her work involves Parallel Radiofrequency Transmission (pTx) for safe MRI of patients with DBS implants, focusing on suppressing localized heating effect—from the interaction between the MR environment and DBS implants—while maintaining spatial homogeneity of the transmission magnetic field. For more details, visit here.
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Felix Menze
PhD Student, University of Toronto

Felix completed his BA in Physical Natural Sciences and a MS in Medical Physics with a specialization in Medical Imaging and Cross-Scanner Image Harmonization at the University of Cambridge, England. His research involves VR technology and neuroimaging, focusing on driving simulations to assess driving performance in the context of aging, with the goal of eventually improving governmental regulations of fitness to drive. Further professional research includes the development of firmware and technology to protect marine mammals from naval vessel noise as well as multiple projects on using machine learning to analyze underwater-radiated soundwaves.
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Maryam Akhshi
PhD Student, University of Toronto

Maryam completed her BSc in Computer Engineering and her MSc in Clinical Psychology. She currently studies cognitive neuroscience, making use of machine learning (ML) algorithms and neural networks to study cognition, specifically focusing on neural networks. Her future project involves analyzing biomarkers of mild cognitive impairments (MCI) and dementia through various genetic and neuroimaging data.
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Alena Ionova
Undergraduate Student, Queen\'s University

Alena is a BSc student at Queen\'s University, majoring in Life Sciences with a minor in Computer Sciences. In the lab, she focuses on data collection and analysis for neuropsychological projects, and she has contributed to Marina\'s head motion Master\'s project. Alena is also preparing to pilot an upcoming study in the lab.
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Sky Ounarom
Co-op Student, University of Waterloo

Sky is a BSc student at the University of Waterloo, majoring in Health Sciences with a Health Informatics option and Health Research Specialization. She is responsible for overseeing recruitment and data analysis for the NeuroCovid-19 study, as well as aiding in other projects in the lab.
Screenshot_20221205_021908

Fred Tam
Lab Manager

Fred manages resources and various neuroimaging projects. He is involved in technical development and analysis, specifically working with the MRI-compatible tablet and other fMRI device development.

Lorelie Lacson
Dr. Graham\'s Administrative Assistant

Lorelie provides support for the Graham Neuroimaging Lab, handling inquiries related to recruitment, information about the lab, and more.

Screenshot_20221206_111456

Ben Yang
Research Engineer

Ben works on the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and parallel radiofrequency transmission (pTx) projects. For more details, visit Here.
new_photo

Marina Silic
Master\'s Student, University of Toronto

Marina, with a background in Mechatronic Systems engineering, focuses on collecting head motion data in MRI for motion correction. Her work involves fabricating a custom optical fiducial marker and developing an artificial intelligence (AI) model to track head motion. These motion data can be used to characterize head motion, validate other MR motion correction methods, and perform retrospective motion correction. For more details, visit here.
IMG_6059 2

Jason Rock
Master\'s Student, University of Toronto

Jason completed his BSc in Physics with a focus in experimental and particle physics at the University of Toronto, having an interest in pursuing a clinical medical physics role in nuclear medicine or radiation therapy in the future. He is co-supervised by Dr. Graham and Dr. Jamie Near, and is working on developing a parallel radio-frequency transmission (pTx) MRI hardware for whole brain slice magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI). MRSI can be used to study neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, and ALS. In Dr. Near’s lab, Jason is focusing mainly on Alzheimer\'s, with recent work starting in ALS.
Screenshot_20221221-095724

Maryam Arianpouya
PhD Student, University of Toronto

Maryam completed her MSc in Medical Physics at Macquarie University of Sydney, Australia, and joined the lab in 2020. Her work involves Parallel Radiofrequency Transmission (pTx) for safe MRI of patients with DBS implants, focusing on suppressing localized heating effect—from the interaction between the MR environment and DBS implants—while maintaining spatial homogeneity of the transmission magnetic field. For more details, visit here.
Headshot-15

Felix Menze
PhD Student, University of Toronto

Felix completed his BA in Physical Natural Sciences and a MS in Medical Physics  with a specialization in Medical Imaging and Cross-Scanner Image Harmonization at the University of Cambridge, England. His research involves VR technology and neuroimaging, focusing on driving simulations to assess driving performance in the context of aging, with the goal of eventually improving governmental regulations of fitness to drive. Further professional research includes the development of firmware and technology to protect marine mammals from naval vessel noise as well as multiple projects on using machine learning to analyze underwater-radiated soundwaves.
photo_2023-05-24_11-13-09

Maryam Akhshi
PhD Student, University of Toronto

Maryam completed her BSc in Computer Engineering and her MSc in Clinical Psychology. She currently studies cognitive neuroscience, making use of machine learning (ML) algorithms and neural networks to study cognition, specifically focusing on neural networks. Her future project involves analyzing biomarkers of mild cognitive impairments (MCI) and dementia through various genetic and neuroimaging data.

original-9DDDC361-6413-4C95-96D1-617C565C9D8B

Alena Ionova
Undergraduate Student, Queen\'s University

Alena is a BSc student at Queen\'s University, majoring in Life Sciences with a minor in Computer Sciences. In the lab, she focuses on data collection and analysis for neuropsychological projects, and she has contributed to Marina\'s head motion Master\'s project. Alena is also preparing to pilot an upcoming study in the lab.
IMG_4041 (1)

Sky Ounarom
Co-op Student, University of Waterloo

Sky is a BSc student at the University of Waterloo, majoring in Health Sciences with a Health Informatics option and Health Research Specialization. She is responsible for overseeing recruitment and data analysis for the NeuroCovid-19 study, as well as aiding in other projects in the lab.

Alumni

Previous members, staff, and students from the Graham Lab

  • Sean Rose, B.A.Sc. (Biomedical Engineering), Co-op Research Assistant for NeuroCovid19 and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuropsychological Tests
  • Alexandra Pavel, M.Sc. (Neuroscience), Research Assistant and NeuroCovid19 Study Coordinator
  • Curtis Fung, B.Sc. (Psychology), Data Collection Co-op
  • Irene Ma, B.Sc., NeuroCovid19 and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuropsychological Tests
  • Yuhan Zhang, BMath., Pulse Sequence Programming, Correction for Head Motion during fMRI
  • Shirley Lin, BASc., NeuroCovid19 and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuropsychological Tests
  • Francis Fernandes, B.Sc., NeuroCovid19 and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuropsychological Tests
  • Ainsley Durnin, B.Sc., NeuroCovid19 and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuropsychological Tests
  • Amanda Johnson, B.A.Sc., PTx RF System Safety Monitor and RF Power Sensor
  • Madeline Chiang, B.Sc., NeuroCovid19 and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuropsychological Tests
  • Yumna Khan, B.Tech., Correction for Head Motion during fMRI
  • Mitchel Morrison, B.Sc., NeuroCovid19 Contrast Uptake Subtraction Imaging Analysis
  • Finn O\'Hara, B.A.Sc., NeuroCovid19 Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast Imaging Analysis
  • Zhongmin Lin, M.Sc., Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuropsychological Tests
  • Aravinthan Jegatheesan, Postdoc, Analysis of MRI Data in the NeuroCOVID-19 Project
  • Nicole Yuen, M.Sc., Understanding How Disorders of the Brain Affect Driving Abilities: An fMRI Driving-Simulator Study
  • Pei-Shan Wei, Postdoc, Parallel Radiofrequency Transmission
  • Clare McElcheran, Postdoc, Parallel Radiofrequency Transmission, Ph.D., Parallel RF Transmission
  • Zahra Faraji-Dana, Postdoc, Correction for head motion during fMRI, Ph.D., Real-Time Motion Correction
  • Sanam Ali, M.Sc., Preoperative fMRI of Brain Cancer
  • Alma Bardon, Postdoc, Neurofeedback with EEG
  • Melanie Morrison, Ph.D., Pre-surgical fMRI of Brain Tumours
  • Karl Landheer, Ph.D., MR Spectroscopy Methods
  • Norman Weir, M.Sc., Use of Microbubble Contrast Agents in MRI
  • Mahta Karimpoor, Ph.D., Tablet Technology for Assessing Dementia
  • Lalah Golestani Rad, Postdoc, Bioelectromagnetic Modeling
  • David Rotenberg, M.Sc., Real-Time Correction by Optical Tracking with Integrated Geometric Distortion Correction for Reducing Motion Artifacts in fMRI
  • Mark Chiew, Ph.D., fMRI for Neurofeedback
  • Shawn Ranieri, M.Sc., Simulator Training to Reduce Head Motion during fMRI
  • Ryan Cassidy, Postdoc, Multivariate fMRI analysis of spatial navigation tasks
  • Michael Marxen, Postdoc, fMRI and MEG Studies of Human Somatosensory Cortex
  • Audrey Kuo, M.Sc. Real-time fMRI from a single voxel
  • Sarah Yancey, M.Sc. Real-time motion correction for fMRI
  • Brad MacIntosh, Ph.D., fMRI of Sensorimotor Tasks involving the Lower Limb
  • Peter Soros, Postdoc, fMRI of speech articulation
  • Cathy Nangini, Ph.D., fMRI Studies of the Somatosensory Cortex
  • Lisa Di Diodato, M.Sc., fMRI-Compatible Data Glove with Force Feedback
  • Marleine Tremblay, M.Sc., External Monitoring to Correct Head Motion during fMRI
  • Emily Seto, M.Sc., Quantifying Head Motion during fMRI Motor Tasks