Leadership Team
Damien Fair, PA-C, PhD
Positions
Principal Investigator: Typical & Atypical Brain Development
Co-Principal Investigator: Longitudinal Imaging Study of ADHD Brain Development
Associate Professor, Behavioral Neuroscience
Associate Professor, Psychiatry
Associate Scientist, Advanced Imaging Research Center
Contact
faird@ohsu.edu
Mail Code: L470
Research Interests: Cognitive Brain Development; ADHD; Autism; Neuroimaging
Summary of Current Research
My laboratory focuses on mechanisms and principles that underlie the developing brain. The majority of this work uses functional MRI and resting state functional connectivity MRI to assess typical and atypical populations. A second focus has become testing the feasibility of using various functional and structural MRI techniques in translational studies of developmental neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism). We are exploring ways to better characterize individual patients with these psychopathologies to help guide future diagnostic, therapeutic and genetic studies.
Publications
Education
2003-2008 Ph.D., Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, MO (Advisors: Bradley Schlaggar, Steven Petersen)
1999-2001 MMSc, Physician Associate Program, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (Advisor: Lawrence Brass)
1994-1998 B.A., Biology (Maj) and Chemistry (Min), Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD
Previous Positions
2008-2011 Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Psychiatry Dept, Oregon Health and Science University (Advisors: Joel Nigg, Bonnie Nagel)
2001-2003 Physician Assistant, Clinical Instructor, Yale University School of Medicine/Yale New Haven Hospital, Dept. of Neurology
Michaela Cordova, B.A.
I'm a Research Associate and Lab Manager with the FairLab; I conduct MRI's and complete neuropsychological testing and clinical evaluations for our largest study on neurodevelopment. I earned a BA inPsychology from Portland State University. After college, I became a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC-I) and worked with dual-diagnosis individuals as a lead counselor and residential facility administrator. I began volunteering with the Fair Lab in2012 while still working as a CADC, and joined as a full time staff member in the fall of 2014. My current projects utilize machine learning methods to investigate the heterogeneity and comorbidity of ASD and ADHD, and I plan on continuing my research by pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology with an interest in cognitive neuroscience. My free time is spent playing music,running, cooking, eating amazing Portland cuisine, and making costumes.
Alice Graham, Ph.D.
Lisa Karstens, Ph.D.
I am an Assistant professor in the Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at OHSU. I received a PhD in chemistry at Princeton University in2010 and a Masters in Biomedical Informatics at OHSU in 2013. My research interests are in integrating information from biomedical big data (for example neuroimaging and DNA sequencing) to better understand complicated human disease. My focus is on identifying alternate underlying etiologies of overactive bladder syndrome such as the central etiology (through the use of functional MRI and resting state functional connectivity MRI) and microbial etiology (through the use of 16S DNA sequencing).
Oscar Miranda Dominguez, Ph.D.
I am amazed by the way the nervous system synchronizes homeostasis at different time scales and by using varied mechanisms, like bioelectromagnetism and hormones. I believe that if we have a better characterization (ie, a mathematical description) of the way behavior is encoded in patterns of brain connectivity, we will be able to apply principles of control engineering to design interventions with better clinical outcomes than current treatments for mental and neurological disorders.
As Research Assistant Professor in the Fair Neuroimaging Lab I can interact with amazing scientists and have access to cutting edge technologies and algorithms to analyze such patterns of brain connectivity using different species and at different spatiotemporal scales. OHSU has also plenty of expertise in behavioral and psychological assessments.
OHSU has a serious commitment in promoting diversity, as accounted by the OHSU Fellowship forDiversity in Research (OFDIR) and by many other formal and informal activities.Furthermore, OHSU has also formal programs for professional development of trainees, like the Human Investigations program, among others.