UT Dallas BrainHealth Imaging Center Returns to Full Capacity

07.06.2021

Dr. Steven Small, dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (left), Dr. Bart Rypma, director of the BrainHealth Imaging Center (center) and Dr. Joseph Pancrazio, vice president for research at UT Dallas, mark the re-opening of the imaging center, which is now hosting more than 50 research brain scans a month.

The University of Texas at Dallas BrainHealth Imaging Center had barely been open for four months when the COVID-19 pandemic caused in-person brain scans at the site to cease in March 2020. The facility resumed a significantly reduced schedule of MRI scans of human research subjects in October, but now it is celebrating a return to full capacity.

Administrators from the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and the Center for BrainHealth, which houses the imaging center, underscored how vital research scans are for learning more about the brain and how it functions.

“We are thrilled to be back on track to becoming a major hub for research scientists to collaborate in the advancement of brain health,” said Dr. Bart Rypma, director of the imaging center. “The work here will play an important role in updating what we understand about the brain’s amazing lifelong ability to adapt and get stronger.”

The UT Dallas BrainHealth Imaging Center features two 3-Tesla MRI machines, which are considered optimal for human brain research. Since the center’s re-opening event, it has been averaging more than 50 scans per month, with expansion likely in the future.

Rypma, who also is a professor of psychology and the Meadows Foundation Chair in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, said the imaging center is an extraordinary resource for UT Dallas and the broader scientific community.

“We must challenge ourselves to develop new methods, ask new questions, train a new generation of researchers and incorporate the complexity of human behavior into our process,” he said.

Researchers interested in utilizing the UT Dallas BrainHealth Imaging Center may call 972-883-3355.

–Phil Roth