Jon-Fredrik Nielsen, Ph.D.

Research Areas:

Biomedical Imaging, Biomedical Imaging and Optics

• Research Associate Professor, Radiology

• NIH Bibliography
• Related news story: Q&A with Steven Whitaker, Jon-Fredrik Nielsen and Jeff Fessler

Dr. Nielsen has made significant experimental and applied contributions to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. His current research focuses on three areas: 1) Enabling large-scale functional MRI research, independent of individual scanner manufacturer specifications. Dr. Nielsen co-developed Pulseq, an open-source pulse sequence specification, and associated platform-specific drivers, and he co-leads an international research effort using this framework. The aim is to harmonize data acquisition, reconstruction, and analysis to improve the reproducibility of fMRI measures. 2) He co-led the development of new “shaped” radiofrequency excitation pulses that offer greater flexibility in experimental design. He is investigating the use of these pulses in 3D fMRI and other applications. 3) In collaboration with faculty from EECS, Radiology, and the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Dr. Nielsen is correlating high-resolution MRI with histopathology to introduce a novel imaging biomarker for the diagnosis and staging of Alzheimer’s disease.

• Kenneth M. Reese Outstanding Research Scientist Award for 2022-23, University of Michigan College of Engineering