The Brain Imaging Core (BIC) of the CNTN is directed by Dietmar Cordes, PhD.

Dr. Cordes joined the staff at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in 2014. Dr. Cordes brings more than 20 years of experience in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), and MR physics. He has worked as a medical physicist in MRI with leading researchers, in fields that include radiology, engineering, and psychology, and with industrial scientists from major corporations (GE, Siemens, Philips). At the University of Wisconsin-Madison he developed a method for signal void recovery in MRI that resulted in a patent. He has developed novel imaging methods in MRI such as ultra-short echotime imaging and algorithms to improve the detection power in fMRI data analysis using constrained Canonical Correlation Analysis (cCCA). His current projects, funded by NIH, involve the development of 7T MR imaging and advanced mathematical and statistical methods to improve analysis of high-resolution fMRI data leading to better characterization of memory function in Alzheimer’s disease.

His publication record is extensive and includes journals such as Human Brain Mapping, and NeuroImage. He earned his BSc and MSc in physics at Technical University of Clausthal (Germany), and a PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Nevada-Reno.

Prior to coming to Las Vegas, Dr. Cordes has held the title of Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Medical Physics in Toronto at Ryerson University, where he taught undergraduate physics, medical physics and quantum chemistry. For the past 15 years, he has had an appointment at the University of Colorado-Boulder in the departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, where he carries out fMRI research investigating new methodologies for mapping of memory function in the medial temporal lobes, especially in the sub-regions of the hippocampus and adjacent cortical areas.