Our Affiliates

CFMI supports a diverse range of research labs from Georgetown University and beyond. Our facilities are used by our affiliates to study language, aging, neurodevelopment, HIV, mental health, and more. Explore the research groups conducting MRI-based studies at CFMI below.

Brain and Language Lab

Principal Investigator: Michael Ullman
Institution: Georgetown University Medical Center, Department of Neuroscience
The Brain and Language Lab focuses on the neurobiological and cognitive bases of first and second language, and their relation to learning and memory circuits in the brain.

DeMarco Advanced Research in Neurorehabilitation (DARN) Lab

Principal Investigator: Andrew DeMarco, PhD, CCC-SLP
Institution: Georgetown University Medical Center, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
The DARN lab is studying the way that brain function changes over the timecourse of recovery after stroke to allow better speech and language communication skills. Tracking the brain and behavior over time of people who have had a stroke will help us understand how brain networks change to support better outcomes after one year.

Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory

Principal Investigator: Xiong Jiang, PhD
Institution: Georgetown University, Department of Neuroscience
The Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory uses neuroimaging techniques such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and EEG/ERP (electroencephalography/event-related potentials) to study brain function and plasticity. We aim to develop and test neuroimaging techniques that are sensitive to neural injury at early stages of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders.

Huntington Disease Care, Education, and Research Center (HD-CERC)

Principal Investigators: Dr. Karen Anderson (Department of Psychiatry), Dr. Fahd Amjad (Department of Neurology), Dr. Steven Lo (Department of Neurology)
Institution: Georgetown University Medical Center
The Huntington Disease Care, Education, and Research Center uses a multi-disciplinary approach to the treatment of patients and their families. Consistent with Georgetown University Medical Center’s devotion to cura personalis, or care of the whole person, the HD-CERC aims towards cura familia, or care of the whole family. Our services and support encompass family members and caregivers. Visit our website page “Research and Clinical Trials” to see current enrolling studies.

Nutritional Neuroscience Lab

Principal Investigator: Kathleen Holton, PhD, MPH
Institution: American University
The Nutritional Neuroscience Lab is working to understand the impact of food and food additives on neurological and psychiatric disorders. A primary aim of the lab is to understand the negative impact of dietary excitotoxins on neurological function.

Right Hemisphere Emotion, Cognition and Recovery (RHECO) Lab

Principal Investigator: Anna Greenwald, PhD
Institution: Georgetown University Medical Center, Departments of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine
The RHECO lab investigates cognitive functions often ascribed to the brain’s right hemisphere (certain visuospatial skills, attention, prosody), how these functions and their brain basis are changed after stroke, and how these changes impact everyday life for stroke survivors and those around them. Our long-term goal is to translate our findings into better diagnostics and treatment options for people who had a stroke.

Pediatric Stroke Project

Principal Investigator: Elissa Newport, PhD
Institution: Georgetown University, Departments of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine
The Pediatric Stroke Project uses assessments of language, visuo-spatial processing, and other cognitive abilities, in combination with functional brain imaging (fMRI), to study how the developing brain recovers from strokes that occur in infancy and early childhood – and how this process of recovery compares to recovery after strokes in adults. Our goal is to understand the processes underlying recovery in the developing and adult brain, and to develop techniques that can stimulate and support recovery in children and adults.

Lateralization and Development Project

Principal Investigator: Elissa Newport, PhD, Anna Greenwald, PhD, Barbara Landau, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine and Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery
Institution: Georgetown University, Departments of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine; Johns Hopkins University, Department of Cognitive Science
It is well-known that in most adults, the left side of the brain is specialized for language processing, while the right side is responsible for visual-spatial abilities. This is called “cerebral lateralization.” However, this division of functions to different sides of the brain may be much weaker, or even absent, in young children. So, when during childhood do these functions begin to lateralize?

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the Lateralization and Development Project looks at which areas of the brain are active for different spatial and language tasks, and how this changes across development. We have worked with both children (ages 4-12) and adults (18+) in this paradigm. By better understanding the foundations of brain lateralization, we hope to gain new insights into the possible mechanisms underlying this process in the young mind and brain.

Statistical Learning and Consolidation

Principal Investigator: Elissa Newport, PhD, Heidi Getz, PhD
Institution: Georgetown University, Departments of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Departments of Neurology and Linguistics
The Learning and Development Lab studies the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying language learning by children and adults. Learners are exposed to miniature artificial languages and then tested for what they have learned from these new languages, immediately after exposure and during memory consolidation during the days and weeks after learning. This project uses fMRI to examine how brain activity changes during this spontaneous consolidation process.

Want Your Lab Listed?

If you work with CFMI and would like your lab included on this page, email us at cfmi-scanning-team@georgetown.edu with:

Your lab name

PI name, Institution and Department

A short (1–2 sentence) description of your research interests, current studies, etc.

A link to your lab website or PI bio page