Visitors Talk: Franco Pestilli, University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

Neuroscience is experiencing unprecedented growth in dataset size both within individual brains and across populations. Large-scale, multimodal datasets are transforming our understanding of brain structure and function, creating opportunities to address previously unexplored questions. However, managing this increasing data volume requires new training and technology approaches. Modern data technologies are reshaping neuroscience by enabling researchers to tackle complex questions within a Ph.D. or postdoctoral timeframe. I will discuss cloud-based platforms such as brainlife.io, that provide scalable, reproducible, and accessible computational infrastructure. Modern data technology can democratize neuroscience, accelerate discovery and foster scientific transparency and collaboration. Concrete examples will illustrate how these technologies can be applied to mapping brain connectivity, studying human learning and development, and developing predictive models for traumatic brain injury (TBI). By integrating cloud computing and scalable data-sharing frameworks, neuroscience can become more impactful, inclusive, and data-driven..

About the speaker

Dr. Pestilli holds a Ph.D. from New York University and a B.A. from the University of Rome La Sapienza. He completed postdoctoral training at Columbia University and Stanford University and earned tenure at Indiana University, Bloomington. His research spans multiple disciplines, including Psychology, Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Neuroscience.

Dr. Pestilli is an affiliated member of the Center For Perceptual Systems, Center for Learning and Memory and serves on the Executive Board of the Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience.

Dr. Pestilli is Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and Psychonomics Society and Editorial Board Member of the Springer:Nature Journals Scientific Data, and Scientific Reports. His accolades include the Microsoft Investigator Fellowship, gifts from the Kavli Foundation and the APS Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions.

Dr. Pestilli is the Founder and Director of brainlife.io, a public platform for data management, standardization, and analysis. He also leads several international projects, including the Brain Research International Data Governance & Exchange (BRIDGE; braindatagovernance.org), which focuses on advancing data governance and sharing across countries. The Advanced Computational Neuroscience Network promotes transdisciplinary training in Neuroscience, Psychology, Engineering, and Computer Science, while the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) Connectivity Project is developing standards for brain connectivity studies. He has also led the development of (ezBIDS, a significant tool for brain imaging data standardization, impacting multiple universities and currently being used by centers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Dr. Pestilli is co-Director of the Data Management and Informatics Core for the NIH’s BRAIN CONNECTS Center for Mesoscale Connectivity focussed on developing data and models to map the human brain connections.

Dr. Pestilli serves as Chair of the Infrastructure Committee of the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility and is the past Chair of the International Brain Initiative Data Standards and Sharing Working Group. At The University of Texas, he teaches Data Science and Cognitive Neuroscience and has developed a Study Abroad Program in Cognitive Neuroscience in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition to teaching at UT Austin, Dr. Pestilli has lectured across the United States, including in Alabama, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and California, as well as internationally in Japan, Korea, Italy, France, the U.K., Nigeria, South Africa, the Netherlands, Canada, and Switzerland.