David Ress

David Ress, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine. He is also Technical Director of the Center for Advanced MRI. His career includes roles at The University of Texas, Austin (High-resolution Brain Imaging Lab), Brown University (MRI Research Facility), and Stanford University (Senior Research Scientist). His research focuses on advanced neuroimaging techniques, including fMRI, MRI physics, and electron tomography, with emphasis on cerebrovascular physiology, brainstem function, and sensory processing in the superior colliculus.

Education:

• Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, Stanford University (1988)
• MS Electrical Engineering, Stanford University (1984)
• BS Electrical Engineering, University of California, Davis (1982)

Research Interests: Dr. Ress specializes in developing high-resolution neuroimaging methodologies, particularly for studying the human brainstem and midbrain. His work addresses challenges in fMRI contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) at ultra-high fields, cerebrovascular physiology, and mapping sensory responses in the superior colliculus. He has contributed to advancements in laminar fMRI, hemodynamic response function (HRF) modeling, and MRI-compatible robotics for sensorimotor protocols.

Grants & Funding:

• NIH R01EB027586: Computational neuroimaging of the human brainstem at 9.4T (2018–2021)
• NIH R01NS095933: Measurements and modeling of the hemodynamic response function in human cerebral cortex (2016–2021)

Labs & Collaborations: He co-directed the MRI Research Facility at Brown University and established the High-resolution Brain Imaging Lab (HIRBIL) at UT Austin. His work spans collaborations in electron tomography (Stanford) and fusion neutron microscopy (Lawrence Livermore National Lab).