Research Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
jfnielse@umich.edu
Office Information:
1067 BIRB, 2360 Bonisteel Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2108
phone: 734-647-7728
Applied Physics Program
Education/Degree:
Ph.D., Experimental Condensed Matter Physics, The Ohio State University 2001
About
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.
