معرفی
Julie Brefczynski-Lewis is a Research Assistant Professor at West Virginia University School of Medicine, holding positions in both the Department of Neuroscience and the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. She earned her PhD from the Medical College of Wisconsin and serves as the neuroimaging liaison for the Center for Advanced Imaging.
- West Virginia University School of Medicine
- Department of Neuroscience
- Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute
Dr. Brefczynski-Lewis's primary research focuses on compassion meditation training for stress relief, particularly regarding difficult interpersonal relations. She has developed a smartphone application to facilitate daily meditation practice and examines the resulting neural, physiological, and behavioral changes. Her work spans multiple neuroimaging techniques including MRI, PET, EEG, and TMS, with applications in working memory, mindfulness, trust, neonatal cognition, pediatric sleep disorders, stroke studies, depression, and auditory processing in disordered populations.
Her recent publications demonstrate a strong trajectory in advancing neuroimaging technology, particularly in developing ambulatory PET systems that allow brain imaging during natural movement. This work represents a significant departure from traditional stationary brain imaging approaches and opens new possibilities for studying brain function in real-world contexts.
- Neuroimaging liaison for the Center for Advanced Imaging
- Weekly neuroimaging group meetings at Mondays 4:00 PM
- Provides training in MRI, PET, EEG, and TMS techniques
- Assists with experimental design and IRB protocols
Dr. Brefczynski-Lewis actively collaborates across disciplines, serving as a bridge between technical imaging development and clinical applications. Her work on compassion meditation represents an important integration of traditional contemplative practices with modern neuroscience methodology, while her contributions to ambulatory PET technology showcase her innovative approach to overcoming limitations in current neuroimaging paradigms.
