During the first one year of LIBR’s existence a multidisciplinary team of scientists with highly specialized expertise in functional neuroimaging research was successfully recruited. This team included world-class MRI physicists and cognitive neuroscientists who have innovated, developed and implemented improved methods for applying MRI imaging to assess the structure and function of the human brain. This accomplishment is remarkable given that the relative lack of pre-existing biomedical research infrastructure in Tulsa served as an impediment to recruitment. The LIBR scientific team now has achieved a critical mass capable of supporting scientific research that is international in quality. The technical accomplishments of LIBR’s MRI Facility were outstanding with the development of several highly innovative methods of imaging brain structure and function. The research productivity of LIBR scientists was excellent, as they published or submitted for review a total of 86 scientific papers and abstracts. Several grants were submitted and some also funded. The LIBR investigators already have implemented several clinical neuroscience protocols that apply these advanced MRI techniques in studies of mood and eating disorders. These studies include longitudinal studies in which clinical information regarding illness course and treatment response is correlated with MRI, genetic and blood-based biomarkers. Major goals of these studies are to identify biomarkers that can predict response to conventional treatments and to discover novel treatments. Finally, formal agreements have been executed between LIBR and SFHS, TU and OU that enable the recruitment of research participants from LPCH, the training of graduate students, and the formal academic appointment of LIBR scientists.
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