Lisa D Nickerson

Lisa D Nickerson is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital where she serves as Director of the Applied Neuroimaging Statistics Research Lab. Her work bridges computational neuroscience, biostatistics, and clinical psychiatry with strong affiliations across Harvard University institutions including Harvard Medical School, Harvard Catalyst, and the Harvard Data Science Initiative.

Dr. Nickerson's research focuses on developing and applying advanced machine learning and statistical methods for multimodal neuroimaging data analysis, particularly for Alzheimer's Disease, substance use disorders, and psychiatric conditions. She specializes in computational approaches including tensor and matrix decomposition methods, ICA and linked ICA for data fusion, and normative modeling techniques. Her work leverages large-scale datasets such as the Human Connectome Project (HCP), Connectomes Related to Human Disease (CRHD), and Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI).

Her recent publication portfolio demonstrates a consistent trajectory toward methodological innovation in neuroimaging analysis, with increasing emphasis on data harmonization across multi-site studies, computational approaches to understanding neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease, and sex differences in brain circuitry related to addiction. Key themes include brain network analysis, computational psychiatry, and the application of machine learning to clinical neuroscience questions.

Dr. Nickerson has received numerous prestigious awards including the NIDA K25 Career Development Award, the O'Keefe Family Junior Investigator Award for Excellence in Imaging, and the Cataldo Award for Excellence in Mentoring. She serves as Associate Editor for Human Brain Mapping and has held leadership roles in the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM), including chairing workshops and serving on the Communications Committee.

In terms of research leadership, she currently serves as Principal Investigator on multiple NIH-funded projects including a five-year R01 grant investigating neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease using the HCP Lifespan datasets and a Precision Functional Neuroimaging Core grant. She provides extensive statistical support, training, and mentoring for students and junior scientists, and teaches imaging statistics courses at Harvard and MIT.

Her Applied Neuroimaging Statistics Research Lab at McLean Hospital serves as a hub for computational neuroimaging research, integrating expertise in biostatistics, machine learning, and clinical neuroscience. The lab actively collaborates with researchers across multiple institutions and is currently seeking post-doctoral fellows for projects focused on neuroimaging of substance use and multimodal computational neuroimaging related to Alzheimer's Disease.