Developmental Imaging
Healthy brain development, individual differences and recovery from illness and injury.
We established our group to facilitate high-quality medical imaging research on the Melbourne Children’s campus. Our aim is to improve our knowledge of childhood development and health through the use of sophisticated imaging acquisition and analysis techniques.
Our multidisciplinary team comprises neuroscientists, specialist radiographers (MR technologists), neuropsychologists, and engineers. We divide our group into specialist teams, including Bioinformatics and Clinical Developmental Neuropsychology.
Our goal is to translate our findings and innovations into improved diagnostic and therapeutic care for children and adolescents.
Group Leaders
Team Leaders
Group Members
Our projects
PETS @ 11 Twin Study
A project funded through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). This project is investigating the role of epigenetic factors in neurocognitive outcomes in 11yr old twins.
MLS Seal
Neurodevelopmental outcomes following supplements in pregnancy
These projects are funded through the Gate Foundation and are investigating neurodevelopmental outcomes following IntraVenous Iron for Anaemia in pregnancy in families based in Malawi and Bangladesh.
MLS Seal, R Beare
Understanding early cortical development following preterm birth
This National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded project combines advanced imaging and genomic technologies to map patterns of early brain development in preterm born infants, identifying how adverse early events can impact how the brain grows in infancy.
G Ball, S Oldham
Detecting abnormal movements in infants at risk of developing cerebral palsy
Funded by the Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation, this project aims to use advanced machine learning methods to enable the early detection of abnormal movement patterns from smartphone video recordings of infants at high risk of developing serious motor disorders such as cerebral palsy.
G Ball, E Passmore, S Greenstein
The Royal Children's Hospital Neuroscience Advanced Clinical Imaging Service (NACIS)
This project, funded by the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation, embeds a translational clinical and research program in The Royal Children's Hospital Neurosurgery Department. NACIS provides advanced neuroimaging analysis, integration, and visualisation, to complement the clinical expertise of multidisciplinary specialist teams. The service aims to enhance diagnostic and neurosurgical treatment capacity for children with brain disorders, aiming to improve their long-term outcomes and quality of life.
Funding
- National Health Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
- Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation
- Australian Research Council (ARC)
- The Gates Foundation
- Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation
- Brain Foundation
- HeartKids
Collaborations
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, The University of Melbourne
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University
- Centre for the Developing Brain, King’s College London
- Lifespan Brain Institute, the University of Pennsylvania
Featured publications
- Cortical remodelling in childhood is associated with genes enriched for neurodevelopmental disorders.
Gareth Ball, Jason Seidlitz, Richard Beare, Marc L Seal (2020). Neuroimage, Volume 215, 15 July 2020, 116803. - Individual variation underlying brain age estimates in typical development.
Gareth Ball, Claire E Kelly, Richard Beare & Marc L Seal. (2021). NeuroImage, 235, 118036. - Long-term development of white matter fibre density and morphology up to 13 years after preterm birth: A fixel-based analysis.
Claire E Kelly et al …NeuroImage, 220, 117068 - A new neonatal cortical and subcortical brain atlas: the Melbourne Children's Regional Infant Brain (M-CRIB) atlas (2017).
Bonnie Alexander et al. NeuroImage 147, 841-851. - Diffusion MRI tractography for neurosurgery: the basics, current state, technical reliability, and challenges.
Yang JYM, Yeh CH, Poupon C, Calamante F. (2021). Phys Med Biol. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34157706.