Madalina Tivarus

Dr. Madalina Tivarus is an Associate Professor in the Department of Imaging Sciences and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD). She specializes in clinical neuroimaging, directing the Functional MRI pre-surgical brain mapping program and the 3D Post-Processing Lab. Her work focuses on advanced MRI techniques including fMRI, DTI, ASL, and MRS, applied to neurological conditions like epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment, and brain tumors. Dr. Tivarus also serves on the DelMonte Institute for Neuroscience and the University of Rochester Center for Advanced Brain Imaging & Neurophysiology (UR CABIN), contributing to protocol development and MR safety compliance.

Education: PhD in Biophysics (2006, Ohio State University), MS in Biophysics (2004) and Physics (1998), and BS in Physics (1997), all from the University of Bucharest, Romania. She completed postdoctoral training at the University of Rochester in Imaging Sciences and Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

Research Interests: Pre-surgical brain mapping, cerebrovascular reactivity, HIV neuroimaging, and functional connectivity disruptions in neurological disorders. Projects include using resting-state fMRI for language lateralization in surgical planning and evaluating exercise interventions for chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity.

Awards: Hazel Brown Teaching Award (2001), Alumni Grants for Graduate Research (2004), and multiple fellowships. Over 50 peer-reviewed publications highlight her contributions to neuroimaging applications in clinical settings.

Labs & Teams: Leads the Tivarus Lab, collaborating with the Cognitive Neurophysiology Lab and the UR CABIN. Projects address brain tumor functional connectivity, epilepsy lesion detection via MRI, and neurovascular mechanisms in HIV.