James J. Pekar, PhD

Highlights

Languages

English

Gender

Male

Johns Hopkins Affiliations:

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty

About James J. Pekar

Primary Academic Title

Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science

Background

Dr. James J. Pekar is a Professor in the Johns Hopkins Medicine Department of Radiology and Radiological Science. He specializes in brain imaging and magnetic resonance research.

Dr. Pekar completed his B.S. in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and received his Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988. After fellowships at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, he served as an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Director of the Neurobiological Magnetic Resonance Laboratory at the Institute for Cognitive and Computational Sciences at Georgetown University Medical Center. He joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins in 1999 as an Assistant Professor.

Dr. Pekar has published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and in 2015 was made a Fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine “in recognition of contributions to the development of methods for the acquisition and analysis of magnetic resonance data reporting on brain physiology and function."

In addition to his position at Johns Hopkins, he serves as Manager and Research Coordinator of the F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging of the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Research Interests

Magnetic resonance imaging of brain physiology and function.

Lab Website

James Pekar Lab - Lab Website

How do we see, hear, and think? More specifically, how can we study living people to understand how the brain sees, hears, and thinks? Recently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a powerful anatomical imaging technique widely used for clinical diagnosis, was further developed into a tool for probing brain function. By sensitizing magnetic resonance images to the changes in blood oxygenation that occur when regions of the brain are highly active, we can make "movies" that reveal the brain at work. Dr. Pekar works on the development and application of this MRI technology. Dr. Pekar is a biophysicist who uses a variety of magnetic resonance techniques to study brain physiology and function. Dr. Pekar serves as Manager of the F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, a research resource where imaging scientists and neuroscientists collaborate to study brain function using unique state-of-the-art techniques in a safe comfortable environment, to further develop such techniques, and to provide training and education. Dr. Pekar works with center staff to serve the center's users and to keep the center on the leading edge of technology.

Research Summary

Dr. Pekar is a biophysicist who uses a variety of magnetic resonance techniques to study brain physiology and function.

Google Scholar

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZsaVenYAAAAJ&hl=en

PubMed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/browse/collection/49915443/?sort=date&direction=descending

Selected Publications

Barber AD, Caffo BS, Pekar JJ, Mostofsky SH. “Effects of working memory demand on neural mechanisms of motor response selection and control.” J Cogn Neurosci. 2013 Aug; 25(8):1235-48. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00394. Epub 2013 Mar 26
Choe AS, Belegu V, Yoshida S, Joel S, Sadowsky CL, Smith SA, van Zijl PC, Pekar JJ, McDonald JW. “Extensive neurological recovery from a complete spinal cord injury: a case report and hypothesis on the role of cortical plasticity.” Front Hum Neurosci. 2013 Jun 25; 7:290. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00290. eCollection 2013
Hua J, Qin Q, van Zijl PC, Pekar JJ, Jones CK. “Whole-brain three-dimensional T2-weighted BOLD functional magnetic resonance imaging at 7 Tesla.” Magn Reson Med. 2013 Dec 12. doi: 10.1002/mrm.25055. [Epub ahead of print]
Unschuld PG, Buchholz AS, Varvaris M, van Zijl PC, Ross CA, Pekar JJ, Hock C, Sweeney JA, Tamminga CA, Keshavan MS, Pearlson GD, Thaker GK, Schretlen DJ. “Prefrontal brain network connectivity indicates degree of both schizophrenia risk and cognitive dysfunction.” Schizophr Bull. 2013 Jun 18. [Epub ahead of print]
Unschuld PG, Liu X, Shanahan M, Margolis RL, Bassett SS, Brandt J, Schretlen DJ, Redgrave GW, Hua J, Hock C, Reading SA, van Zijl PC, Pekar JJ, Ross CA. “Prefrontal executive function associated coupling relates to Huntington's disease stage.” Cortex. 2013 Nov-Dec; 49(10): 2661-73. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2013.05.015. Epub 2013 Jun 26

Honors

Fellow, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 5/1/15

Additional Training

In Vivo NMR Research Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 1991, National Research Council Associate; Laboratory of Diagnostic Radiology Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 1995, Senior Staff Fellow; Physical Chemistry Section, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, MD, 1992, Senior Staff Fellow