Dr. Lilla Zöllei’s research focuses on designing and developing quantitative analysis tools for neuroscientific problems. She builds and tests computational tools that can be used for both individual and group studies. She investigates, through the combination of image information from multiple imaging modalities, how the structural and functional organization of the brain influence one another. Through her collaboration with medical experts, she is also keen on ensuring that these tools are used to improve the study and diagnosis of both research and clinical subjects. 

Her scientific investigation at present addresses challenges of pediatric MRI imaging and developing computational tools that are capable of exploring the dynamic aspect of perinatal neurodevelopment. As the fundamental principles on which many adult analysis technologies are built – a static central tendency with small alterations – are less appropriate in the case of infants, she is working on alternative approaches to benefit this population. Additionally, she has recently extended her research agenda to acquiring and analyzing high-resolution postmortem infant brain images. With neurologist and pathologist expert collaborators, she and colleagues proposed mapping the structural connectome in developing ex vivo human fetal and infant brains.

1999 BA, Computer Science and Mathematics, Mount Holyoke College

2001 MS, Computer Science, CSAIL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2005 PhD, Computer Science, CSAIL Massachusetts Institute of Technology