Researcher Profile: David Schaeffer
Where are you from?/Where did you study?
I grew up in the United States. I was born in Michigan and attended University there, then left for Athens, Georgia to earn a PhD in Neuroscience.
What brought you to the CFMM?
The CFMM is a well-oiled machine; the people here are great and the culture is very collaborative. The confluence of this with a truly cutting-edge facility (complete with 3 MRIs and a dedicated RF coil lab) makes for an exciting scientific environment.
What are you researching right now?
My current research resides within the field of translational neuroimaging – I am interested in employing state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging techniques to study how brain topologies are similar or different across various mammalian species. Ultimately, this work informs the viability of different model species to study the human brain in healthy and diseased states.
Who is your all-time favourite scientist and why?
Probably Richard Feynman, the famous physicist of the mid-twentieth century. Although his field was vastly different to what I study, I think he was one of the great expositors of that era. I have always admired his ability to systematically break scientific problems down into progressively smaller questions – this is a style that is well-suited to any scientific field.
What are your major interests outside the lab?
Before I attended University, I trained as an automotive/diesel mechanic and have remained interested in engine building and most things automotive. Right now, I am retrofitting a carbureted engine from the 1960’s with a modern computer-controlled fuel injection system. My family and I also try to spend as much time as possible around the water of the Great Lakes.
What are you reading right now?
My wife and I enjoy listening to audiobooks together – we are currently listening to a book called Rocket Men by Robert Kurson – it’s about the Apollo 8 mission to the moon. Scientific advancements aside, the author provides a unique perspective of just how eerie space travel was for the astronauts involved.
David has had many publiciations that can be found on his google scholar page:
https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=JCk1Yi4AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
#MRI #science #CFMM #robarts #imaging #medicalbiophysics
