About the BIC
The McConnell Brain Imaging Centre (BIC) is one of the largest scientific communities in North America dedicated solely to research imaging of the human brain. Launched in 1984 by then Director of the MNI, Dr. William Feindel, with the generous aid of the McConnell Family Foundation, the BIC now represents over 300 man-years of experience in neuroimaging research and is widely regarded as one of the top brain imaging research centres in the world. In 1999 the BIC was acknowledged by the Smithsonian Institute for its contribution to medical research applications of high technology. We are founding partner of the International Consortium for Brain Mapping and the lead institution in a multi-institutional National Institutes of Health project to create an atlas of the developing child brain.
The BIC has been fortunate to have 5 directors since its creation in 1984.
| William Feindel | Antonie Hakim | Albert Gjedde |
 |  |  |
| 1984 to 1986 | 1986 to 1990 | 1990 to 1994 |
| Alan Evans | Bruce Pike | |
 |  | |
| 1994 to 1999 | 1999 to present |
Today, the BIC consists of a core group of 16 faculty members, conducting independent research with high technology brain scanners and sophisticated computational analysis. It also houses approximately 70 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers and over 25 technicians and administrative staff. The BIC also hosts approximately 30 affiliate faculty members from McGill and beyond who conduct their imaging research studies in collaboration with the core group. The centre emphasizes quantitative multi-modal 3-D investigation of brain structure and function. Brain structure is imaged using anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI) while brain physiology is imaged using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS), functional MRI (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). The BIC maintains strong linkages with the clinical, clinical research and basic research communities within the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University and has collaborations across Quebec, Canada, USA and internationally.
The BIC is dynamic multi-disciplinary research environment where our faculty train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from a range of McGill University departments including neuroscience, biomedical engineering, neurology, psychology, medical physics, computer science, chemistry and neurosurgery. Being housed within the “Neuro”, consisting of the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, and having strong partnerships with the Douglas Hospital and Jewish General Hospital, via the Montreal Consortium for Brain Imaging Research, we also benefit from deep interactions with our clinical colleagues that enable the investigation of most all major neurological and psychiatric diseases.