Eleanna Varangis, PhD

Dr. Eleanna Varangis is an assistant professor of Movement Science in the Michigan Concussion Center and the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Economics from Barnard College of Columbia University. She completed her master’s degree and PhD in Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where her dissertation research focused on the long-term effects of football-related concussions on cognitive performance, white matter integrity, and functional connectivity during an episodic memory task in middle-adulthood. Her postdoctoral research with Dr. Yaakov Stern at Columbia University’s Taub Institute explored similar relationships among cognitive performance and functional connectivity during both rest and task periods in healthy adults across the adult lifespan.

Now, her research utilizes cognitive assessments and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) both at rest as well as during a cognitive task in order to probe ways in which mTBI affects neurocognitive function across both short- and long-term timescales. Her training in the analysis of functional and structural MRI in both former athletes and healthy adults informs much of her approach to exploring the effects of mTBI on neurocognitive health in the context of aging. The overall goal of her research is to characterize the ways in which mTBI affects brain health and cognitive function across the lifespan, and to identify individual factors that may protect against or exacerbate deviations from a healthy brain aging trajectory.

Dr. Eleanna Varangis, director of the ATHINA Lab, is seeking a postdoctoral research fellow to begin as early as Summer 2023. Details: myumi.ch/ezXp2. Posting on U-M Jobs site: myumi.ch/JpRbV.

Xuming He received his PhD in Statistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989. He joined the University of Michigan as H. C. Carver Collegiate Professor in 2011. His prior appointments include faculty positions at the National University of Singapore and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include broad areas of statistical inference, including quantile regression and subgroup analysis. His interdisciplinary research aims to promote the better use of statistics in biosciences, climate studies, concussion research, and social-economic studies.

Dr. Douglas Noll’s group develops magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology for mapping the functional organization the human brain performing specific tasks (known as functional MRI or fMRI). The group’s research is in two main areas: 1) understanding the neurovascular physiology associated with brain activity and quantifying the biophysical connection to the MR images and 2) development of image acquisition, image reconstruction, signal processing, and hardware approaches to provide the high-speed and robust measurement of function over the entire brain. As part of the Functional MRI Laboratory, this group collaborates with a broad range of neuroscientists to develop an understanding of the organization and functioning of the normal brain and to apply technological advances to quantitative imaging of brain function in a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Noll serves on the Concussion Center’s Faculty Council, providing intellectual guidance and strategic recommendations to the center’s leadership.

Dr. Jacob R. Joseph is a neurosurgeon specializing in the treatment and management of traumatic brain and spine injuries. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with Highest Honors. He then earned M.D. degree from Baylor College of Medicine. He went on to complete a seven-year neurosurgical residency at the University of Michigan. Dr. Joseph then completed additional training in Neurotrauma and Complex Spinal Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh under the tutelage of Dr. David Okonkwo. His research focuses on the biomechanics, diagnosis, and management of brain and spine injuries.