Statisticians step up to aid neurological health research - Faculty of Science - University of Alberta

Linglong Kong (mathematical and statistical sciences) is the co-lead of a new collaboration of 18 researchers across North America working together to improve the way neuroimaging data is analyzed. In the hands of the right reader, it may prove to be a very important one--such as the likelihood of a particular patient developing a neurological disorder like dementia or responding positively to a new treatment for depression or ADHD. Recent rapid innovations in technology have enabled the unprecedented collection of complex neuroimaging data to measure different perspectives on brain structures and functions. This information-rich data offers incredible potential to investigate neurological and psychiatric diseases, trace neural network changes of various disorders and understand the inner workings of the human brain--helping lay the foundation for a future with more precise, patient-specific medical treatment options. Some of the more complicated problems involve integrating complementary sources of information--such as those that arise from studies that collect data using multiple neuroimaging modalities simultaneously, or studies that aim to combine brain imaging with genomics.