Lei Wang

Dr. Lei Wang is the Reva James Leeds Chair in Neuroscience and Research Leadership, Senior Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, and Vice President of Scientific Affairs, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering with Honors from the University of Maryland at College Park, and a master's and PhD in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University with Prof James Clark and Alan Yuille. He did his postdoctoral training in computational anatomy and brain mapping with Dr. Michael Miller at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to joining Baycrest, Dr. Wang was a full professor with tenure in Psychiatry and Neuroscience at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Dr. Wang received his tenure at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in the Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed publications, many in the areas of computational anatomy, Alzheimer's and related dementias, and mental disorders. Dr. Wang's research has been continuously funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Wang is known for his groundbreaking work at the intersection of neuroimaging, computational neuroscience, and aging. His research on neuroimaging biomarkers of neuropsychiatric disorders explores how brain structure and function change across the lifespan, with an emphasis on identification of early biomarkers linked to cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. His innovative use of advanced imaging techniques and data-driven approaches has significantly advanced our understanding of brain aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and mood disorders in older persons, making him exceptionally well-suited to help drive BARE and Baycrest’s vision to defy dementia and support healthy aging. Dr. Wang is also a proponent of open science and has led several NIH-funded multi-center initiatives on data standards, data sharing, and data discovery. Dr. Wang's contributions have been recognized with honours such as the Ken and Ruth Davee Award for Innovative Investigations in Affective Disorders and an IDP Foundation Research Innovation Challenge Award. He is an elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).

Recent Publications

1. Wang L, Ambite JL, Appaji A, Bijsterbosch J, Dockes J, Herrick R, Kogan A, Lander H, Marcus D, Moore SM, Poline JB, Rajasekar A, Sahoo SS, Turner MD, Wang X, Wang Y, Turner JA. NeuroBridge: a prototype platform for discovery of the long-tail neuroimaging data. Frontiers in neuroinformatics. 2023;17:1215261. PMCID: PMC10500076.
2. Che T, Kim S, Greene DJ, Heywood A, Ding J, Hershey T, Schlaggar BL, Black KJ, Wang L. Correlating clinical course with baseline subcortical shape in provisional tic disorder. CNS Spectr. 2024 Nov 28:1-13.
3. Heywood A, Stocks J, Schneider JA, Arfanakis K, Bennett DA, Beg MF, Wang L. In vivo effect of LATE-NC on integrity of white matter connections to the hippocampus. Alzheimers Dement. 2024 Jul;20(7):4401-10. PMCID: PMC11247713.
4. Jenkins LM, Heywood A, Gupta S, Kouchakidivkolaei M, Sridhar J, Rogalski E, Weintraub S, Popuri K, Rosen H, Wang L, Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Neuroimaging I. Disinhibition in dementia related to reduced morphometric similarity of cognitive control network. Brain Commun. 2024;6(2):fcae124. PMCID: PMC11044061.
5. Ma D, Stocks J, Rosen H, Kantarci K, Lockhart SN, Bateman JR, Craft S, Gurcan MN, Popuri K, Beg MF, Wang L, ALLFTD Consortium. Differential diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia subtypes with explainable deep learning on structural MRI. Frontiers in neuroscience. 2024;18:1331677. PMCID: PMC10879283.
6. Stocks J, Gibson E, Popuri K, Beg MF, Rosen H, Wang L. Spatial and Temporal Relationships Between Atrophy and Hypometabolism in Behavioral-Variant Frontotemporal Dementia. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2024 Apr-Jun 01;38(2):112-9. PMCID: PMC11141524.
7. Turner MD, Appaji A, Ar Rakib N, Golnari P, Rajasekar AK, K VA, Sahoo SS, Wang Y, Wang L, Turner JA. Large language models can extract metadata for annotation of human neuroimaging publications. Frontiers in neuroinformatics. 2025;19:1609077. PMCID: PMC12405296.
8. Petersen J, Gupta SV, Apple AC, Cobia D, Dokucu ME, Donnelly ED, Gradishar WJ, Mihailovic M, Reilly JL, Voss JL, Wagner LI, Weintraub S, Wang L. Functional dysconnectivity in breast cancer patients undergoing hormone therapy. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2026 Jan 21:1-23.
9. Stocks JK, Heywood AA, Popuri K, Beg MF, Rosen HJ, Wang L. Morphometric features enhance phenotype discrimination in frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Brain Commun. 2026;8(1):fcag012. PMCID: PMC12887737.
10. Westlund Schreiner M, Manuele SJ, Washburn JJ, Shankman S, Cullen KR, Wang L, Jenkins LM. White matter and impulsivity are prospectively associated with non‑suicidal self‑injury in youth: evidence for sex differences. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2026 2026/06/08/:1-8.

Honours and Awards

Ken and Ruth Davee Award for Innovative Investigations in Affective Disorders

IDP Foundation Research Innovation Challenge Award

Outstanding Teacher Award, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Ohio State University Faculty Leadership Institute

Lagniappe Award, NIH Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) Networks

Eta Kappa Nu, National Electrical Engineering Honorary Society

Senior Member. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)

Fellow, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)