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Professor Jasanoff obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College. After completing a Master's in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge in the UK, he returned to Harvard University to commit to PhD studies in Biophysics. Jasanoff joined the faculty of the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT in 2004. His research focuses on developing a new generation of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods to study the neural mechanisms of behavior. The principal focus is on the design and application of new contrast agents to help define spatiotemporal patterns of neural activity with far more precision and resolution than current techniques allow. Experiments using these new agents combine specificity in cellular neuroimaging with whole brain coverage and the noninvasiveness of conventional fMRI. The introduction of these technologies has far-reaching consequences for neuroscience, and the new imaging methods are applicable to studies of neural systems in vivo. The lab's goal is to use these methods to build explanatory models of neural network function in animals, with a current emphasis on the brain circuitry involved in instrumental learning behavior.