BRAIN HEALTH - Key Persons


Brain Connectivity

Job Titles:
  • Editor

Bud Smith

Job Titles:
  • Chairman at the Center

Dr. Bart Rypma

Dr. Rypma is one of the leading researchers in the area of age-related changes in human memory. His lab studies the effects of physiologic changes and age-related changes in humans using both cognitive and bioengineering approaches. His previous research includes study of neural activity in relation to cognitive efficiency as well as examining white matter integrity in multiple sclerosis. The NeuroPsychometric Research (NPR) Laboratory studies the relationship between brain and behavior in health and disease using functional brain-imaging (fMRI) and neuropsychometric experiments. They study brain function in individuals with neurological impairments in an effort to better determine how the impairments affect mental functions. Though a relatively new method for studying brain activity, fMRI has the potential to be a very useful tool with which to study the functioning brain, especially when comparing different populations such as young and old. A focus of Dr. Rypma's work has been the development of experimental fMRI methods to facilitate cross-population comparisons of neural activity. Dr. Rypma was awarded the Meadows Foundation Endowed Chair in Behavioral and Brain Sciences as well as the Caren and Vin Prothro Foundation Award. After earning his undergraduate degree at New York University, his master's degree at Duke, and his doctoral degree in experimental psychology from Georgia Tech, Dr. Rypma completed postdoctoral work on brain imaging at Stanford and Penn. Before joining the team at the Center for BrainHealth, Dr. Rypma was conducting research at Rutgers. Dr. Bart Rypma was recently awarded the Major Extramural Grant Award (MEGA) for Development of Calibrated fMRI at the UT Dallas Center for BrainHealth Imaging Center. Dr. Rypma's research is aimed at exploring the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of human memory and how those mechanisms are affected by aging and disease. Dr. Rypma is a professor in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at The University of Texas at Dallas and The UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas School of Psychiatry.

Vince Calhoun

Job Titles:
  • Author
  • Jane and Bud Smith Chair
Technology is opening new windows of understanding about the brain's incredible ability to change, grow and adapt, putting us on the cusp of major advances. Dr. Vince Calhoun leverages data in unprecedented ways to help improve individual cognitive function and optimize the performance of the human brain. Vince Calhoun, author of "The Promise of Big Data Imaging for Mental Health," published in the Dana Foundation's Cerebrum magazine, discusses his pioneering research with Cerebrum podcast host Bill Glovin. Knowledge gleaned from big data and advances in neuroimaging have provided new insights into the workings of the brain. In this conversation, Dr. Calhoun explores these two evolving fields and their potential to impact of both mental health and neurodegenerative treatment.