The research of Wei Gao, PhD, focuses on delineating the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying typical/at-risk early brain development and adult brain disorders using multi-modal MR imaging techniques, particularly functional connectivity fMRI. In pediatric research, Gao and his colleagues have successfully delineated not only the typical early brain development processes including intra-regional functional specialization, inter-regional functional integration, network orchestration/interaction, and whole brain system evolution but also altered trajectories associated with either genetic (e.g., maternal psychiatric disorders) or environmental (e.g., prenatal drug exposure, maternal obesity, poverty) risks. In adult studies, Gao and his colleagues have robustly documented the task-related dynamics of brain's functional interaction patterns among large-scale functional networks and are actively exploring potential disruptions of such dynamic interaction patterns in different brain disorders.

• PHD: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2010

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