Mission | Faculty & Staff

The Mission of the NYSPI MRI Research Program is:

To provide a core service for all NYSPI faculty members interested in using MRI research, as well as a wide resource to the Columbia Medical Center and Columbia University communities

To offer a broad menu of services that enables researchers with little to no experience to submit high quality grant applications and start collecting MRI data soon, but also to be helpful to experienced MRI research laboratories who are looking for only specific technical services or consultation. These services include but are not limited to:

• Consultation on experimental design and grant submission in areas of anatomical MRI, functional MRI (including default mode/resting state), MR spectroscopy, and structural MR connectivity
• Development of pulse sequences, RF coils, and fMRI paradigms customized to research questions
• Scheduling and acquisition of MR images in an efficient and timely manner
• Use of a wide range of MR compatible stimulus and response equipment
• Use of a wide range of psychophysiological monitoring equipment
• Assistance and/or training on MR image processing in all modalities

To maintain competitive rates for MRI scanning tailored to the purposes of individual grants and research studies

To feature a user friendly, supportive, and flexible service for researchers, leveraging the clinical research expertise of NYSPI to offer top tier MRI services to the NYSPI and Columbia research community

Rachel Marsh, Ph.D.

Director, MRI Research Program

Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Phone: (646) 774-5774
Email: rachel.marsh@nyspi.columbia.edu

https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/profile/rachel-marsh-phd

Rachel Marsh, PhD is the Irving Philips Professor of Medical Psychology (in Child Psychiatry) at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute where she directs the Cognitive Development and Neuroimaging Laboratory in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Marsh received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the City University of New York and completed her postdoctoral training at Columbia University. Dr. Marsh’s work is focused on understanding the neurodevelopmental trajectories of anxiety and eating disorders. Specifically, her lab uses multimodal MRI techniques to study the function, structure, and connectivity of the neural circuits that support self-regulation and learning over development in health and illness, and circuit-based changes following treatment in children and adults with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. She is the recipient of NIMH-funded grants and author of many peer-reviewed, clinical neuroimaging papers. 

Joe Figliolia, MS. 

MRI Research Program Coordinator

NYS Psychiatric Institute
Phone: (646) 774-7259
Email: joe.figliolia@nyspi.columbia.edu

Yunsuo Duan, Ph.D.

RF Coil Development

NYS Psychiatric Institute
Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurobiology (in Psychiatry)
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Translational Imaging
Phone: (646) 774-7251
Email: yunsuo.duan@nyspi.columbia.edu

https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/profile/yunsuo-duan-phd

Feng Liu, Ph.D.

MRI Pulse Sequence Development

NYS Psychiatric Institute
Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurobiology (in Psychiatry)
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Translational Imaging
Phone: (646) 774-7261
Email: feng.liu@nyspi.columbia.edu

http://www.columbia.edu/~fl2150/index.html

Zhishun Wang, Ph.D.

Functional MRI and Connectivity

NYS Psychiatric Institute
Associate Professor of Clinical Neurobiology (in Psychiatry)
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Phone: (646) 774-5844
Email: zhishun.wang@nyspi.columbia.edu

https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/profile/zhishun-wang-phd

Xuejun Hao, Ph.D.

Multimodal Imaging

NYS Psychiatric Institute
Research Scientist
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Epidemiology
1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032
Phone: (646) 774-5728
Email: xuejun.hao@nyspi.columbia.edu

MRI Research Program Operating Committee

Rachel Marsh, Ph.D.

Director, MRI Research Program

Janelle Greenhill, M.S.

Director, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene

Jeffrey Miller, M.D. 

Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry (Molecular Imaging & Neuropathy), NYAPIS

Gaurav Patel, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry (Experimental Therapeutics), NYSPI 

Guillermo Horga, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology (Translational Imaging), NYSPI

Lawrence Kegeles, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology (Radiology), NYSPI

Alayar Kangarlu, Ph.D. 

Director of Physics and Education, MRI Research Program

Matthew Riddle, B.F.A.

Administrative Director, Operations Manager, MRI Research Program 

External Advisory Board

J. Thomas Vaughan, Ph.D

Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Zuckerman Institute

Christoph Juchem, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology

Scott A. Small, M.D.

Boris and Rose Katz Professor of Neurology; Director, Alzheimers Research Center

Sachin Jambawalikar, Ph.D. 

Assistant Professor of Radiology (Physics)