Thompson, Paul
Paul Thompson is a Professor in the Keck School of Medicine of USC. His team’s research projects focus on the neuroscience, mathematics, computer science, software engineering and clinical aspects of neuroimaging and brain mapping. Honored with the 2023 Pioneer in Medicine Award of the Society of Brain Mapping and Therapeutics, and the U.S. Alzheimer Association’s Zenith Award, Paul Thompson directs the ENIGMA Consortium, a global alliance of 2500 scientists in 47 countries who conduct the largest studies of 30 major brain diseases – ranging from Parkinson’s disease, anorexia, schizophrenia, depression, ADHD, bipolar illness and OCD, to HIV and addictions and their effects in the brain. ENIGMA’s genomic screens of over 70,000 people’s brain scans and genome-wide data (published in Nature Genetics, 2012; Nature, 2015; Science, 2020) have brought together experts from 300 institutions to unearth over 500 genetic variants that affect brain structure, disease risk, and brain connectivity. At USC, Dr. Thompson is a Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry, Radiology, Pediatrics, Engineering, and Ophthalmology, and Director of the ENIGMA Center for Worldwide Medicine, Imaging & Genomics – a $11M NIH Center of Excellence in Big Data Computing. Using worldwide medication screens, ENIGMA discovers factors that affect progression of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, schizophrenia, depression and childhood brain disorders. Dr. Thompson also directs AI4AD – an $18M NIH Initiative on AI methods to accelerate Alzheimer’s disease research, discovering novel treatment targets; he directs the India ENIGMA Initiative – large-scale study of brain aging in India. He directs the USC Imaging Genetics Center – a group of 50 scientists in Marina del Rey. His team created the first maps of Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia spreading in the living brain, and a method to track brain growth in children. Dr. Thompson has an M.A. in mathematics and Greek and Latin Languages from Oxford University, and a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA.
Valadez, Emilio
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Our lab focuses on understanding how early risk factors, such as temperament and early adversity, confer risk for future emotional problems among children and adolescents. More specifically, we are interested in how executive functions (assessed with a combination of behavioral, EEG, and MRI measures) moderate the psychiatric impact of early-life risk factors. Three interrelated questions spanning basic and translational work guide our research: 1) How are executive functions supported by the brain? 2) How do early risk factors alter the development of executive functions? 3) How do executive functions interact with early risk to modulate psychiatric outcomes? Ultimately, our work aims to better understand basic cognitive and developmental processes to identify novel target mechanisms for intervention.
Wang, Lu
Assistant Professor of Dentistry
Our lab aims to push the boundary of our understanding of human brain in development and related disorders with discoveries focused on non-neuronal cells, environmental stress, and genetic mutations, leveraging the stem cell-based organoid/PCCO-assembled model in combination with the state-of-art genetic and genomic (single cell level) strategies to expand our knowledge of the cell-cell communication, fate dynamics, and niche homeostatic of the non-neuronal cells (astrocytes and pericytes) in health, and emergency rescue when they are under stress or in disease. Ultimately, our collective efforts, alongside those of others in the field, will pave the way for groundbreaking interventions in the realm of neurological disease.
Zhang, Li
Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience
As systems neuroscientists, we aim to decipher brain circuits to understand how perception and behavior arise, how the brain adapts to a dynamic environment, and how circuit dysfunction contributes to neurological and psychiatric disorders. We focus on resolving neural architecture—the wiring of neurons that underlies brain function. Technical innovation is central to our approach. We have developed molecular, genetic, electrophysiological, and imaging tools to study circuits supporting both local computation and behavior. Our research integrates in vivo and in vitro electrophysiology, two-photon calcium imaging, neural modeling, anatomical tracing, and optogenetics to build a comprehensive understanding of cell-type-specific circuit mechanisms.
