Denis
Le Bihan
has achieved international recognition for his outstanding contributions to the
development of new imaging methods allowing, in particular to study human brain
function. His work has combined extremely innovative methods, developed for Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI) with the application of these methods to questions
of the utmost scientific and clinical importance.
Dr. Le Bihan is a native of France, where he completed his training in Medicine (including a Residency in Neurosurgery and Radiology) and Physics before moving to the United States in 1987. He served as a Research Section Chief in the Clinical Center at NIH, Bethesda, Maryland and as a Clinical Associate Professor of Radiology at Georgetown University, Washington, DC. In 1994, Dr. Le Bihan was appointed at the Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot of the CEA, in Orsay, France, an internationally recognized MRI and PET facility. In 1999, Dr. Le Bihan established the Anatomical and Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory at SHFJ to develop and apply groundbreaking neuroimaging methods. In 2000, Dr. Le Bihan became the director of the Federative Research Institute of Functional Neuroimaging (IFR 49, Orsay/Paris). In 2007 Dr. Le Bihan became the Director of NeuroSpin, a new Institute of the CEA aimed at developing and using ultra high field Magnetic Resonance to understand the brain, from mouse to man.
Dr.
Le Bihan is credited with developing, refining, and introducing into research
and clinical
practice the concept of diffusion MRI, a new and powerful approach to
study normal and diseased brain anatomy and function, as well as brain wiring,
from the measurement of molecular motion, in particular water, in biological
tissues. This method has been taken up by MRI system manufacturers and is today
used worldwide both for basic research and clinical applications, especially in
acute brain ischemia, white matter diseases and connectivity
disorders. Dr.
Le Bihan has also significantly contributed to the development of functional MRI
(fMRI) which has changed for ever the way we study the humain brain, giving access to
the neural networks underlying complex cognitive functions, such as language,
mental imagery or even consciousness. Dr.
Le Bihan' pioneering research in diffusion and functional MRI has had an
enormous impact on the fields of modern Radiology and Neuroscience. Indeed, his
contributions are widely acknowledged in the literature and in medical curricula
throughout the world.
Dr. Le Bihan belongs to
several professional societies and serves on the editorial boards of prestigious
peer reviewed journals. Commensurate with his prolific research, Dr. Le Bihan
has authored or co-authored over 200 articles, book chapters and review articles in the fields of MRI, imaging,
neuroscience and radiology. For his contributions, Dr. Le Bihan was
awarded in 2001 the Gold Medal of the International Society for
Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. He is also the 2002 recipient of the famous Lounsbery
Award from the National Academy of Sciences (USA) and French
Academy of Sciences and a 2003 corecipient (with S. Dehaene) of the prestigious Louis D.
Award of the Institut de France.
In 2003, Dr. Le Bihan was further distinguished by being elected a full
member of the French Academy of
Sciences.
Last revised: 14/11/07.
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