My journey 02

Doctorate in Sciences

I embarked on my PhD with a very personal goal: to better understand my students’ brains, particularly those facing learning difficulties. Dealing with these challenges daily as a teacher was my driving motivation. This brought me to the Department of Psychiatry at the Federal University of São Paulo UNIFESP, where I had the incredible opportunity to work on neuroimaging research with a large cohort of children. I focused on learning disorders, a subject close to my heart.

Transitioning from basic research to clinical work was a huge adjustment. Suddenly, I was in a medical department, speaking a different “language” with doctors, psychiatrists, radiologists, and neurologists. Clinical research demands a different mindset—everything from ethics in human studies to healthcare systems and new statistical models. I often felt like a square peg in a round hole. But with time, I adapted and even came to appreciate the variety of perspectives.

Working with an interdisciplinary team—psychiatrists, psychologists, speech therapists, neuropsychologists, and others—was challenging but also enriching. I slowly found my place and began to enjoy the dynamic environment.

One area that truly captured my interest was neuroimaging, particularly diffusion brain imaging. This technique allowed us to map out the white matter pathways in the brain—the “communication highways” that connect different regions. Interestingly, this focus on white matter brought me full circle back to my earlier research on shark nerves, where I had been studying similar pathways in a very different species!

I specialized in structural MRI and diffusion imaging, following Brazil’s largest children’s psychiatry cohort. It was a perfect blend of my background in neuroanatomy and my new passion for imaging the brain. The goal was to better understand the brain’s role in various learning and mental health disorders.

Managing Projects and Teams

As part of this project, I worked as a collaborator at the National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry INPD. The umbrella goal was to investigate early clinical and neuroimaging markers of mental disorders in children. I was involved in everything from planning how to collect brain images to ensuring the children were comfortable during the MRI scan, which can be a loud and intimidating process. My background as a teacher was extremely helpful here—knowing how to calm and communicate with kids was invaluable!

One of my responsibilities was managing the team that carried out the MRI scans, which included psychologists, nurses, engineers, and technicians. We worked in one of the largest hospitals in Latin America at the Radiology Institut InRad, and coordinating the scanning process for over 850 children was no small feat. Half the children were from São Paulo, and the other half from the south of Brazil, adding to the logistical complexity. My role involved overseeing the MRI protocol, ensuring quality, and sometimes just being there to hold a child’s hand during the scan—something that made all the difference to them and to me. Sundays at MRI scan: a freezing, noisy, but still heartwarming experience.

This experience was truly formative. It taught me not only the ins and outs of brain imaging but also how to lead a diverse team, escalate problems to higher hierarchies, handle complex projects, and balance scientific rigor and empathy.

Technical Challenges and Breakthroughs

Working with diffusion brain images was both fascinating and frustrating. Diffusion imaging is particularly sensitive to artifacts—errors that can distort the data. Unfortunately, we faced all kinds of issues during data collection, and there were moments when I felt like my PhD project was on the verge of collapse. This led me to some very tough decisions, such as excluding many unreliable images from the dataset.

At one point, I even had to dive into K-space, which is essentially the raw data space where MRI images are formed. For a naturalist like me, this was a completely foreign world! I attended MRI physics courses (twice!) just to understand how to troubleshoot these issues. K-space is like a hidden recipe that guides the MRI in creating final images. The help of a mathematician with expertise in diffusion imaging was crucial.

Despite the challenges, I persevered.

When my first paper draft was ready, I traveled to London to refine my analysis. At King’s College in London IoP, where I worked as Academic Visitor. I was expecting to work with a brain imaging expert in the FSL platform (a complex brain image software suite), but to my surprise, I was the one expected to be the expert! This was a turning point. My paper was critically reviewed, and I realized I needed to pivot my analysis. Fortunately, I came across the right people who helped me with two crucial things: advanced statistical analysis to overcome image limitations and physics expertise to allow me to implement my innovative technique of white matter analysis. Thus, a PhD in neurodevelopment was born.

Personal and Professional Growth

During this time, I was dealing with a personal tragedy—my father’s illness and his passing. It was an incredibly difficult period, and it reminded me that scientists, like everyone else, have personal struggles. Balancing grief and the pressures of academic work was a challenge, but it also taught me resilience and perspective. I learned that behind every scientific paper, there’s a very human story.

Achievements and Skills

By the end of my PhD, I published three scientific articles, all as the corresponding author. Along the way, I developed a range of technical and soft skills:

Technical Skills:

• Advanced Statistical Analysis: I mastered techniques like multivariate linear regression and Bayesian analysis. Neuroimaging Analysis: I gained experience with platforms like FSL and Freesurfer, using them to analyze diffusion, structural, and magnetization transfer images.
• Data Management: I handled an extensive database combining brain images and various psychological tests.
• MRI Physics: I learned how to troubleshoot MRI images, including accessing and analyzing K-space.

Soft Skills:

• Project Management: Leading a team through a complex project with many moving parts.
• Communication: Bridging the gap between different disciplines—natural science, clinical research, psychology—and working with diverse professionals, and escalating problems adequately.
• People Management: Overseeing a large team, managing workflow, and ensuring the well-being of children during scans.
• Problem-Solving: Tackling technical and logistical challenges with persistence.
• Resilience: Balancing personal challenges and professional demands.

BONUS

Planning to explore K-space? Check out https://mriquestions.com/what-is-k-space.html for an exciting adventure!