Dr. Elisabeth Wilde is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Utah. She also holds an appointment as a Health Research Scientist at the VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System. Her research interests include the use of advanced forms of neuroimaging to enhance diagnosis and prognosis, monitor recovery and neurodegeneration, evaluate the efficacy of therapeutic intervention, and elucidate aspects of neuroplasticity in traumatic brain injury.
Dr. Dennis completed her Neuroscience PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2013 focusing on structural connectivity across development with Dr. Paul Thompson. Her postdoctoral work first at University of Southern California and then Brigham & Women’s Hospital focused on the effect of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on brain structure and connectivity. Along with Drs. Tate and Wilde, Dr. Dennis is a co-PI of the TBI working group of the ENIGMA consortium (Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis) – a worldwide collaboration including 2000+ researchers in 40+ countries seeking greater power to identify genetic influences on the brain and how numerous psychiatric and neurological disorders affect the brain. Dr. Dennis is the Director of ENIGMA-U (https://biabl.org/enigma-u/) a free online neuroimaging school. She is also the co-PI of the Imaging Biomarker Core for the CARE4Kids Project (https://www.care4kidsstudy.com/).
Dr. David Tate is a clinical neuropsychologist trained at Brigham Young University and Brown Medical School. He is heavily involved in medical imaging research used to examine a number of developmental, clinical, and medical disorders, especially traumatic brain injury. Dr. Tate has held faculty appointments at Brown University, Harvard Medical School, and University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Dr. Liebel is an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) and Clinical Neuropsychologist in the Department of Neurology at the University of Utah. He also holds an appointment as Team Neuropsychologist for Real Salt Lake FC of Major League Soccer. Dr. Liebel earned a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Georgia and completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology and sport-related concussions at the University of Michigan. His primary research interests involve improving clinical detection, predicting outcomes, and monitoring the recovery of athletes with concussions. He utilizes neuroimaging, neurocognitive assessments, and advanced statistical methodologies to address these questions.
Mary Newsome is a cognitive neuroscientist who researches effects of traumatic brain injury on brain activation and functional connectivity to understand the nature of neuroplasticity. She is an Associate Professor within the Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion Center (TBICC) in the Department of Neurology at the University of Utah Medical School and a Research Health Scientist at the George E. Wahlen VA Medical Center. She recently joined the TBICC from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where she holds an adjunct appointment.
Erin D. Bigler retired in August 2018 from Brigham Young University, where he was a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University (BYU) since 1990. He served as chair of the Psychology Department from 1996 through 2002. In 1990, he established the Brain Imaging and Behavior Laboratory at BYU, which studies the role of neuroimaging variables in cognitive and neurobehavioral disorders such as traumatic brain injuries, neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and learning disabilities, anoxic brain injuries and other acquired injuries of the brain as well as aging and Alzheimer’s disease. In 2013 he was the Founding Director of BYU’s new Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Facility and served there from its inception through 2014.Dr. Bigler has been practicing since 1975 and holds a diplomate in clinical neuropsychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. He served as the President of the International Neuropsychological Society (2014-1015).Along with having written several neuropsychological tests, he has authored and/or edited 11 textbooks and published over 300 peer-reviewed articles. He was one of the founding associate editors for two journals in the field — the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society (JINS), where he served for 11 years as well as Brain Imaging and Behavior, where he continues to serve.Currently, he is Associate Editor for Neuropsychology. In 1999, he received the Distinguished Clinical Neuropsychologist Award from the National Academy of Neuropsychology. In that same year, he was also the recipient of the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award, Brigham Young University’s top faculty honor. From 1989-1990, Dr. Bigler served as President of the National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN). He was formerly a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Texas, until he returned to Utah in 1990 to assume his current position at BYU. For 40+ years he has either directed or co-directed the subspecialty training in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Texas or BYU.
Dr. Tricia Merkley is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist in the Psychology Department and Neuroscience Center at Brigham Young University, with a clinical appointment in the Neurology Department at the University of Utah. Her research uses neuroimage analysis and neuropsychological assessment to investigate structural brain changes following acquired brain injury and neurobehavioral functioning during recovery. Additional research interests include neuropsychological assessment following COVID-19 infection and cross-cultural considerations for neuropsychological assessment.
Dr. Carrie Esopenko is an Associate Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion Center in the Department of Neurology at the University of Utah and in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She is the principal investigator of a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke R01-funded multi-site IPV study and co-investigator on grants from the Department of Defense, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Esopenko is the Lead Investigator of the ENIGMA IPV Working Group as well as co-lead of the ENIGMA IPV Global Knowledge Exchange Network. She is also the Co-Principal Investigator for Rutgers University’s involvement in the Ivy League/Big Ten Epidemiology of Concussion Study. Her research focuses examining the sub-acute, chronic, and long-term effects of brain injury and repetitive head impacts on cognitive, psychological, neural outcomes in athletes and trauma-exposed individuals.
Dr. Eamonn Kennedy BSc MSc PhD is a Research Assistant Professor within the Division of Epidemiology in Internal Medicine at the University of Utah and a member of the TBI and Concussion Center at the Department of Neurology where he works on machine learning for health, data harmonization, and phenotyping. He is also a contractor at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care system, where he is engaged in research on Veteran health trajectories. Dr Kennedy’s completed a PhD on topics in Biophysics at University College Dublin in 2014, and went on to postdoctoral positions at both Brown University (2017-2020) and the University of Notre Dame (2014-2017). He has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers across a wide range of research questions within biomedical and health domains, and he is the recipient of numerous international awards and grants.
Hannah earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in biology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2012, a Master’s degree in psychology from New York University in 2015, and a Doctorate in experimental psychology with emphasis in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience from Brigham Young University in 2020. Hannah’s primary research interests involve the use of advanced structural neuroimaging techniques and neuropsychological assessment to measure the neuroplastic potential of the brain during recovery from traumatic brain injury. She is also interested in the roles that brain and cognitive reserve, as well as neurorehabilitation may play in the recovery process. Hannah’s research further extends into the realm of statistical and experimental methodology, where she advocates for the use of sound methodological practices and statistical rigor in scientific research in support of emerging efforts to establish replicability and transparency in the literature.
Dr. Naomi Goodrich-Hunsaker is an enthusiastic researcher dedicated to exploring the connections between brain injury and various health conditions and their long-term outcomes. With a versatile background across different clinical groups, she brings a wealth of experience to her work. Dr. Goodrich-Hunsaker's central role across all projects involves conducting advanced neuroimaging analyses. She's skilled in various cutting-edge techniques, such as diffusion and perfusion imaging, volumetric analyses, and functional connectivity. She is proficient in using high-performance computing (HPC) systems to analyze data. She has contributed significantly to several NIH-funded projects, and her collaborative nature has proven invaluable within various large consortia, providing her with an environment that fosters continuous growth and refinement of her expertise. She is passionate about refining and developing innovative neuroimaging pipelines to understand brain injuries and related conditions. Dr. Goodrich-Hunsaker's genuine dedication and interdisciplinary approach drive progress in the field of neuroimaging and brain injury research.
Dr. Johnson's degrees in applied physics (BS), exercise science (MS), and neuroscience (PhD) establish a unique foundation for studying neuromechanics. Specifically, her research interests lie in studying the neuroplasticity that occurs as a result of physical and cognitive rehabilitation following brain injury. Her physics background aids in her understanding the MRI acquisition and analyses techniques she uses to measure changes in structural and functional brain connectivity. Her teaching assignments also reflect her diverse academic background. Dr. Johnson facilitates the development of students’ skills in an Advanced Writing in Neuroscience course, touts the benefits of exercise on the body and brain—including the neuroprotective effects against cognitive decline due to injury, aging, and disease—in Fitness for Life courses, and enjoys sweating with college co-eds while leading in aerobic and strength training courses.
Tracy is the Lab Manager for the TBI and Concussion Center. As the director of the NIH-funded Brain Imaging and Behavior Lab at Brigham Young University for the past 27 years, Tracy has continuously provided neuroimaging and specific computer software expertise. Tracy is proficient in maintaining and/or adapting state-of-the-art image analysis software as it applies to all of the neuroimaging data collected in the lab. Tracy’s forte is that of adapting current computer science technology to help sort and understand all the data collected. He is also proficient in image analysis and image rendering software.
Carmen is a Behavioral Neuroscience PhD candidate at the University of Missouri – St Louis. She is heavily involved in studies for Post-Traumatic Epilepsy in Veterans, Interpersonal Violence, and establishing a Normative Neuroimaging Library. She works on multiple research projects overseeing the acquisition and distribution of collected study data supporting Neuroimaging research. She’s trained in advanced neuroimage analysis techniques on multiple platforms and is certified as a Microsoft Technology Associate.
Dr. Oncas has a background in clinical psychology (MS) and neuroscience (PhD). His research interests include structural and functional neuroimaging of concussion and traumatic brain injury. He has experience with analyzing large neuroimaging datasets and has taken part in some exciting projects focused on pediatric concussion, neuroimaging methods, and network neuroscience. He is also interested in studying factors that contribute to the heterogeneity of neuroimaging results across studies, and how to increase the consistency of neuroimaging data analysis, to ultimately obtain more reproducible research in concussion and TBI.
Charlie Rey is a second-year neuroscience PhD student at the University of Utah, where he works in Dr. Elizabeth Wilde’s lab investigating traumatic brain injury (TBI) outcomes through computational analysis. His research utilizes advanced statistical methods with the LIMBIC-CENC dataset to uncover novel correlations between imaging and behavioral outcomes, aiming to better characterize TBI symptoms and recovery trajectories. Charlie is a part of the team exploring the potential of photobiomodulation, studying the effects of red light therapy as a treatment for TBI-related symptoms. Charlie’s journey in research began in 2015 in Emery Brown’s lab at MIT, where he first developed an interest in neurophysiology, which then expanded into chronic pain research under Norman Taylor at the University of Utah. In 2020, he co-founded his first company to develop software that streamlines healthcare workflows. His current venture—a digital platform designed to simplify case documentation for cardiac perfusionists—has deepened his interest in bridging scientific and business communities. Through his role with the Utah Innovation Fund, Charlie supports healthcare-focused innovations and develops skills in evaluating early-stage ventures.
Emma recently graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in Neuroscience. She has a background in Cellular Neuroscience research in the field of addiction.
She currently works as a study coordinator in the lab, where she helps with research studies and edits the accompanying manuscripts. Some of the projects she is involved in include: Photobiomodulation, Intimate Partner Violence, LIMBIC-CENC, and CHIPS. She also assists with scheduling, organization, and data harmonization in the ENIGMA projects, and performing quality assurance and lesion segmentation for MRIs of adult and pediatric TBI patients.
Emma is specifically interested in cognitive assessment and using imaging -- coupled with neuropsychological tools -- to explore the interface of TBI and PTSD. She plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology.
Ella is a current student at Brigham Young University, pursuing a degree in Psychology. She has a specific interest in neuroimaging, specifically in research surrounding TBI. As a study coordinator, she contributes to various projects at different levels, but has more involvement in Photobiomodulation, Inflammation, as well as brain lesion segmentation and tractography as needed. Ella also participates in recruiting, scheduling, organization, and promotion on social media platforms for multiple projects within the lab. Her primary interest lies in the intersection of neuroscience and clinical applications. For her future, Ella is particularly interested in the potential of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to enhance the assessment of traumatic brain injuries. Furthermore, she would love to explore how chronic pain and related conditions influence the recovery process for traumatic brain injuries and both the physical and emotional repercussions of such injuries. Ella hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Neuroscience after graduating and gaining more research experience.
Dayna is a current student at Brigham Young University pursuing a degree in Neuroscience. She is a study coordinator, and is involved with project management, test administration, data processing, and data management for multiple studies in the lab. In the future, Dayna hopes to continue her career in Traumatic Brain Injury research and is planning on getting her Ph.D. in Clinical Neuroscience.
Lizzie is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Psychology, with specific interest in neuroimaging and behavior. As a clinical research coordinator, she participates in many projects including LIMBIC-CENC, Photobiomodulation, Intimate Partner Violence, and others. Additionally, she assists with imaging assessment such as lesion segmentation and evaluation of specific pathology related to TBI. In future, Lizzie hopes to research the relationship between Traumatic Brain Injury and gut health.
Josephine is an undergraduate student studying public health. She schedules subjects, administers cognitive testing, and assists with current research studies including the Normative Neuroimaging Library. She also assists with lab organization and file organization.
Hilary Russell is a research associate who received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Utah, and Master’s of Science in Psychology from Brigham Young University. Hilary assists on various projects, primarily aiding in neuropsychological testing and manuscript preparation.
Courtney is a recent graduate from Westminster College where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and a minor in Chemistry. Her background is in cellular neuroscience, specifically in behavioral endocrinology. In the lab, Courtney is a study coordinator and primarily works with the following projects: Moderate and Severe TBI, Photobiomodulation, Inflammation, and Post-Traumatic Epilepsy. She is heavily involved with writing and reviewing Institutional Review Board applications. Additionally, she works with scheduling participants, performing lesion segmentation on adult and pediatric MRI scans, and administering neuropsychological tests. Her primary interest is in adolescent development with relation to traumatic brain injuries. She plans to attend medical school and further develop treatments for TBI.
Jamie attended Brigham Young University (BYU) and graduated with a Master's degree in Neuropsychology. She was involved with research at her earliest opportunity and was fortunate to work in neuroimaging labs both at BYU and Stanford University where she was involved with the publication of various research studies ranging from corpus callosum morphology in autism to cerebral atrophy in combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder to limbic system morphometrics in pediatric traumatic brain injury. Fascinated with the human brain's staggering complexity, incredible ability to adapt and its multiplicity of still-unknowns, Jamie is thrilled to be a part of the University of Utah's TBICC lab in order to experience the scientific method first-hand with the hopes of creating mechanisms to better understand neurological pathologies and injuries and thereby generating improved recovery and treatment strategies.
Shashank graduated from the University of Utah in 2021 with a master’s degree in computer science. He assists in computational analysis, implementing machine learning pipelines and data visualization of neuropsychological data in various research projects. He is also involved in building web interfaces for viewing results, formatting results for the research team meetings and writing manuscripts.
Sylvie is a current student at the University of Utah, pursuing an honors degree in Psychology. While still open to all facets of TBI research, Sylvie is particularly interested in the neuroimaging aspect of the field. As a clinical study assistant/coordinator, she is tasked with administering psychological tests. Sylvie is specifically interested in TBI research as it relates to athletes, both at the amateur and professional levels. After graduating, she plans to pursue a PhD in neuroscience.
Maya recently graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. She has some clinical experience with residential treatment and is now exploring the world of research. Maya is a study coordinator and is involved with several studies including: Photobiomodulation, Inflammation, and CHIPS. She also assists with course creation for ENIGMA-U. Her special interests include familial and marriage relationships as well as therapy. In the future, Maya plans on pursuing a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy.
Katie is a Research Coordinator for a variety of projects. Primarily she assists with neuropsychological testing for studies including CHIPS, Inflammation, and Photobiomodulation. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah and is trained in phlebotomy. She is planning on going back to school to pursue further education.
Freddy is currently a student at BYU majoring in Microbiology. He has a background in pediatric sepsis research from his time at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital but has changed his focus to Neurology research, specifically in regards to TBI and it’s physical manifestations on biomarkers and neurological function. He currently works as a research assistant for the lab where he helps test participants and analyze brain scans. Some of the projects he is currently working on are Photobiomodulation, Inflammation, and with the ENIGMA Consortium. Freddy is interested in attending Medical School and training to be a neurosurgeon.
Emma graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in Business Strategy. She spent two years in Big Tech before pursuing post-baccalaureate studies in psychology. She currently works as a study coordinator in the lab, where she leads the study on Intimate Partner Violence. Emma is specifically interested in PTSD and trauma. She plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
