IN MEMORIAM
Dr. Jerzy Bodurka Legacy Website
Dr. Jerzy Bodurka passed away on Friday, August 13, 2021. He was a pioneer and a world-renowned expert in the fields of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI and enjoyed a storied scientific career and many prestigious awards. He worked as a staff scientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and received the NIH Director's Award in 2007 for his advancements in MRI imaging technology. In 2009, he joined the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) in Tulsa, OK, where he worked to build an international reputation in magnetic resonance imaging physics and its applications to improving mental health.
He cared deeply about people – those in his group, in his work and in his family. He was a thoughtful and engaging collaborator who advocated for new researchers. He was a loving husband, father, brother, son, mentor and colleague with a knack for technology and tinkering – his wife and daughter joke that they always had a willing IT professional on call. He loved World War II history, space exploration, hiking, tennis, movies, walking with the family dog and most of all, his family.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider donations to Laureate Institute for Brain Research to continue Jerzy's life's work in advancing interventions for mental health.
Dr. Jerzy Bodurka passed away on Friday, August 13, 2021. He was a pioneer and a world-renowned expert in the fields of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI and enjoyed a storied scientific career and many prestigious awards. He worked as a staff scientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and received the NIH Director's Award in 2007 for his advancements in MRI imaging technology. In 2009, he joined the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) in Tulsa, OK, where he worked to build an international reputation in magnetic resonance imaging physics and its applications to improving mental health.
He cared deeply about people – those in his group, in his work and in his family. He was a thoughtful and engaging collaborator who advocated for new researchers. He was a loving husband, father, brother, son, mentor and colleague with a knack for technology and tinkering – his wife and daughter joke that they always had a willing IT professional on call. He loved World War II history, space exploration, hiking, tennis, movies, walking with the family dog and most of all, his family.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider donations to Laureate Institute for Brain Research to continue Jerzy's life's work in advancing interventions for mental health.
The Bodurka Laboratory (Archived 08/13/2021)
Jerzy Bodurka, Ph.D.Chief Technology Officer
Director, MRI-EEG Facility Laureate Institute for Brain Research Associate Professor Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Oklahoma Google Scholar Profile Email: jbodurka@laureateinstitute.org | Phone: 918-502-5101
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Research Program Highlights
Main Question
Can we use brain imaging and/or EEG to directly modulate brain areas that are important for treating anxiety or depression? Approach We use real-time fMRI feedback together with a focus on positive emotion tasks in patients with depression or PTSD to modulate the activation of the amygdala to improve symptoms. |
Current Findings
Depressed patients can learn to enhance amygdala activation to positive emotions, which is associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms. Future Directions We will determine whether this approach can also work with EEG, how long the symptom improvement will last, and whether other types of patients could benefit from real-time fMRI feedback. |
Scientific Background
Dr. Bodurka has broad expertise in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) physics. He received his doctorate degree in physics from the University of Nicolaus Copernicus in Torun, Poland and completed part of his postdoctoral training in NMR at the Department of Chemistry at Free University of Berlin, Germany.
As a postdoctoral fellow at Medical College of Wisconsin, he received firm training in MRI technology and functional MRI (fMRI). As a Staff Scientist at the functional MRI Facility of the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), he was responsible for providing a state-of-the-art imaging environment for conducting advanced MRI and fMRI research.
In 2007, for his development of a Scalable Multi-Channel MRI Data Acquisition System, he received NIH’s Director Award for Advancements in MRI Parallel Imaging Technology. The advancements in MRI receiver and multi-element coils technologies allowed for major improvements in MRI signal-to-noise ratio and pushed spatial and temporal limits for both functional and anatomical imaging. He has also developed an advanced real-time software set-up allowing for conducting real-time fMRI with neurofeedback.
In 2009, Dr. Bodurka joined the newly established Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) to create a state-of-the-art MRI/fMRI/EEG neuroimaging facility and to a establish multimodal brain neuroimaging program with the overall purpose of advancing clinical research focused on mental disorders, with a broad research goal of advancing our understanding and characterization of brain abnormalities due to mental illness.
As a postdoctoral fellow at Medical College of Wisconsin, he received firm training in MRI technology and functional MRI (fMRI). As a Staff Scientist at the functional MRI Facility of the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), he was responsible for providing a state-of-the-art imaging environment for conducting advanced MRI and fMRI research.
In 2007, for his development of a Scalable Multi-Channel MRI Data Acquisition System, he received NIH’s Director Award for Advancements in MRI Parallel Imaging Technology. The advancements in MRI receiver and multi-element coils technologies allowed for major improvements in MRI signal-to-noise ratio and pushed spatial and temporal limits for both functional and anatomical imaging. He has also developed an advanced real-time software set-up allowing for conducting real-time fMRI with neurofeedback.
In 2009, Dr. Bodurka joined the newly established Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) to create a state-of-the-art MRI/fMRI/EEG neuroimaging facility and to a establish multimodal brain neuroimaging program with the overall purpose of advancing clinical research focused on mental disorders, with a broad research goal of advancing our understanding and characterization of brain abnormalities due to mental illness.
Selected Publications
Research Collaborators
Kent Teague, Ph.D.
University of Oklahoma- Tulsa Hazem Refai, Ph.D.
University of Oklahoma- Tulsa Samuel Chang, Ph.D.
University of Oklahoma- Tulsa |
Peter Bandettini, Ph.D.
NIH/NIMH, Bethesda, MD Matthew Feldner, Ph.D.
University of Arkansas Frank Krueger, Ph.D.
George Mason University |
Wenming Luh, Ph.D.
Cornell University Michael Roy, M.D.
Uniformed Services University |
Industry Collaborators
Patrick Britz, Ph.D.
Brain Products GmBH, Germany |
Patrick Ladden, Ph.D.
Nova Medical Inc., Wilmington, MA, USA |
Scott Hinks, Ph.D.
GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, USA |