Ferdinand Schweser PhD

Ferdinand Schweser

Ferdinand Schweser
PhD

Associate Professor

Department of Neurology

Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences


Specialty/Research Focus

Artificial Intelligence; Biomedical Imaging; Biometal Imaging; Brain Iron Homeostasis; Disease Progression Modeling; Image Processing and Analysis; Inverse Imaging Problems; MRI Methodology; Multiple Sclerosis; Neuroimaging Analysis; Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping

Contact Information
6045C CTRC
875 Ellicott Street
Buffalo, New York 14203
Phone: (716) 888-4718
schweser@buffalo.edu



Professional Summary:

My biomedical imaging research lab fosters translational team-science discovery from mouse to human. My lab is part of the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC). In addition, my lab provides expertise in imaging physics and analysis for the Center for Biomedical Imaging (CBI), a core facility of UB’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), for which I serve as the Technical Director.

My research program targets several interrelated topics in biomedical imaging of neurological disease. The principle thread connecting these topics is the advancement of neuroimaging technology for noninvasive profiling of tissue pathology. The focus of my research program lies in the development and application of novel computational methods to quantify biophysical tissue properties with MRI, primarily those related to tissue iron. Disease progression is associated with disturbed brain iron homeostasis in many neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), providing a strong rationale for the study of brain iron.

I pioneered the development of an MRI method referred to as quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). QSM capitalizes on the observation that biological tissues perturb the static magnetic field of the MRI scanner in a predictable way that depends on their magnetizability (or: magnetic susceptibility), which is strongly affected by tissue iron. QSM measures these perturbations and computes the underlying spatial distribution of susceptibility by solving several physics-based inverse mathematical problems, a process to which I have made several groundbreaking contributions.

Alongside my methodological work, a major priority of my research program is the clinical translation of advanced research imaging technology. I pursue this ambition through extensive collaboration with colleagues at the Department of Neurology, the CBI, and external partners.

Education and Training:

  • PhD, Medical Physics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Summa Cum Laude (2013)
  • Certificate, Certified Photonics Professional, Friedrich Schiller University Jena (2008)
  • MS, Physics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Summa Cum Laude (2008)
  • Certificate, Correspondence study of physics and mathematics, University of Kaiserslautern (2003)

Employment:

  • Affiliate Faculty Member, Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, University at Buffalo (2023-present)
  • Associate Professor (HS) with tenure, Neurology, University at Buffalo (2021-present)
  • Technical Director, Center for Biomedical Imaging, Clinical and Translational Research Institute, University at Buffalo (2020-present)
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo (2016-present)
  • Director of Sequence Development, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (2015-present)
  • Research Physicist, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (2014-present)
  • Research Associate Professor, Radiology, University at Buffalo (2023-present)
  • Graduate Faculty, The Graduate School, University at Buffalo (2014-present)
  • Program Faculty, Neuroscience Program, University at Buffalo (2014-present)
  • Research Assistant Professor, Radiology, University at Buffalo (2019–2023)
See all (6 more)

Awards and Honors:

  • MRM Editor’s Pick for the Month of May (2024)
  • MRM Top Downloaded Article (2023)
  • MRM Editor’s Pick for the Month of July (2021)
  • Scialog Fellow for Advancing Bioimaging (2021)
  • MRM Top Cited Article 2018-2019 (2020)
  • PLOS ONE Top Cited Article 2016 (2019)
  • ISMRM Distinguished Service to the Society (2018)
  • MRM Editor’s Pick for the Month of March (2018)
  • QSM Workshop Best Poster (2016)
  • ISMRM Distinguished Service to the Society (2015)
  • ISMRM Grateful Appreciation of Service to the Society (2015)
  • ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Merit Award (2015)
  • ISMRM Distinguished Service to the Society (2014)
  • Award for best doctoral dissertation (2014)
  • ISMRM Junior Fellow (2014)
  • Varian poster prize (2013)
  • Young Investigator Award at 2nd Intl. QSM Workshop (2013)
  • ISMRM 2013 Seed Grant Award (2013)
  • ISMRM Summa Cum Laude Merit Award (2013)
  • IUPAP Young Scientist Medal in Medical Physics (2013)
  • Best poster presentation in ISMRM poster-highlights session (2013)
  • DGMP Young Investigator Award (2012)
  • Invitation to ISMRM student poster-highlight session (2012)
  • ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Merit Award (2012)
  • ISMRM Magna Cum Laude Merit Award (2012)
  • ISMRM Summa Cum Laude Merit Award (2012)
  • ISMRM 1st place poster award (2011)
  • Gorter Award (2011)
  • Carl Zeiss Foundation doctoral scholarship (2009)

Research Expertise:

  • Computational Imaging: biostatistics; machine learning; image processing; image analysis
  • Inverse Problems: magnetostatics; source separation
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): phase MRI; susceptibility MRI; iron MRI; preclinical imaging; multi-modal imaging
  • Neuroimaging: Neurodegenerative disorder; aging

Research Centers:

  • Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center
  • Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC)
  • Jacobs Neurological Institute

UB 2020 Strategic Strengths:

  • Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan
  • Information and Computing Technology

Grants and Sponsored Research:

  • April 2024–March 2029
    MRI-Based Quantitative Mapping of Oxygen Extraction Fraction in MS
    NIBIB
    Role: Co-Investigator
    $1,773,283
  • April 2021–March 2026
    Optimizing Chest Compressions Targeting Gas Exchange and Hemodynamics in a Transitional Cardiac Arrest Model
    National Institutes of Health
    Role: Co-Investigator
    $1,642,389
  • June 2024–June 2025
    Buffalo Bioimaging Brain Bank for Neurological Disorders (B4ND)
    National Institutes of Health, NCATS
    Role: Principal Investigator
    $68,000
  • July 2021–June 2025
    Deep gray matter iron and disease progression in multiple sclerosis.
    National Institutes of Health
    Role: Principal Investigator
    $1,808,000
  • January 2024–December 2024
    Advanced imaging assessment of underserved relapsing and progressive multiple sclerosis patients: a case-control study
    National Institutes of Health, NCATS
    Role: Co-Investigator
    $67,000
  • January 2024–December 2024
    Assessing the Efficacy of Alterations in Subcortical-Cortical Functional Connectivity from Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Older Children after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
    National Institutes of Health, NCATS
    Role: Co-Principal Investigator
    $54,380
  • February 2020–December 2024
    Buffalo Clinical and Translational Research Center
    National Institutes of Health
    Role: Co-Investigator
    $19,101,902
  • January 2022–July 2023
    New combined approaches for researching brain tissue and cortical networks.
    German Academic Exchange Service
    Role: Co-Principal Investigator
    $35,000
  • August 2021–July 2023
    Advanced hybrid PET-MRI imaging pipeline at 9.4T
    Role: Principal Investigator
  • June 2022–May 2023
    Mapping of Metabolic profiles with the structural connectivity of the auditory path-way in blast traumatic brain injury
    Role: Co-Investigator
    $8,500
See all (13 more)

Patents:

  • Biparametric Joint Label Fusion This is an extension of the original Advanced Normalization Tools Joint Label Fusion (JLF). The original version only allows segmenting regions using single-contrast atlases, while this extended JLF version is capable of single- and dual-contrast segmentations, such as using T1-weighted images and quantitative susceptibility maps. (https://gitlab.com/R01NS114227/antsjointlabelfusion_biparametric) (2024)
  • Homogeneity Enabled Incremental Dipole Inversion Homogeneity Enabled Incremental Dipole Inversion (HEIDI) is a dipole inversion algorithm for quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). The algorithm consists of an underregularized LSQR-based iterative solution with data-integrity constrained weighted total variation post-processing. (https://gitlab.com/R01NS114227/qsm_heidi) (2024)
  • BrukerSky BrukerSky is a modular MATLAB-based database and reconstruction system for Bruker data. BrukerSky automatically creates bash scripts for all reconstructions. These scripts can either be executed manually, providing full control of the execution, or automatically. (https://gitlab.com/schweser/brukersky) (2023)
  • Pipeline for Super Simple Serial Slurm (pi4s) The Pipeline for Super Simple Serial Slurm (pi4s) is a super-simple Bash-based pipeline for Slurm. The pipeline submits Slurm jobs with proper dependencies between consecutive jobs, ensuring that pipeline jobs start in the right order. (https://gitlab.com/R01NS114227/pi4s) (2023)
  • Separation of Biophysical Contrast Mechanisms in Biomedical Imaging (2019)
  • Method for high accurate extraction of information from at least two-dimensional measurement data of an object, which are superimposed by a signal from external sources (2010)
  • SAR hotspot reduction by temporal averaging in parallel transmission MRI (2010)
  • Real-time local and global SAR estimation for patient safety and improved scanning performance. (2009)

Journal Articles:

See all (71 more)

Books and Book Chapters:

  • Schweser, Ferdinand Rauscher, Alexander. (2025) Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping in Multiple Sclerosis. In: Handbook of Imaging in Multiple Sclerosis. Springer
  • Robinson, Simon Schweser, Ferdinand. (2024) Phase imaging and Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping. In: Ultra-high field neuro MRI. Springer
  • Schweser F, Preda M, Zivadinov R. (2018) Susceptibility Weighted MRI in Rodents at 9.4 Tesla. In: Methods in Molecular Biology—Preclinical MRI: Methods and Protocols. Springer

Abstracts:

  • Salman F, Ramesh A, Jochmann T, Prayer M, Adegbemigun A, Jakimovski D, Bergsland N, Dwyer MG, Zivadinov R, Schweser F. (2024) On the Sensitivity of Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping in Clinical Brain Research. EMTP Chile. Santiago, Chile (Jul) Oral
  • Salman F, Thomas K, Adegbemigun A, Bergsland N, Dwyer MG, Zivadinov R, Schweser F. (2024) Biparametric Joint Label Fusion: A Comprehensive Segmentation Tool for Precision in QSM Analysis. EMTP Chile. Santiago, Chile (Jul) Oral
  • Jochmann T, Kügler N, Omira A, Zivadinov R, Haueisen J, Schweser F. (2024) Orientation dependency of white matter magnetic susceptibility with the QUASAR model. EMTP Chile. Santiago, Chile (Jul) Oral
  • Jochmann T, Jakimovski D, Hametner S, Zivadinov R, Haueisen J, Schweser F. (2024) Nonsusceptibility frequency shifts in the human brain and their impact on quantitative suscep-tibility mapping. Joint Workshop on MR phase, magnetic susceptibility and electrical properties mapping. Lucca, Italy (Jul) Oral
  • Salman F, Ramesh A, Jochmann T, Prayer M, Adegbemigun A, Jakimovski D, Bergsland N, Dwyer MG, Zivadinov R, Schweser F. (2024) Impact of Regularization Parameter Choice on Real-World Sensitivity of QSM. EMTP Chile. Santiago, Chile (Jul) Poster
  • Jochmann T, Omira A, Kügler N, Zivadinov R, Haueisen J, Schweser F. (2024) Single-Orientation Susceptibility Anisotropy Imaging. EMTP Chile. Santiago, Chile (Jul) Poster
  • Reeves JA, Bartnik A, Mohebbi M, Ramanathan M, Bergsland N, Jakimovski D, Wilding GE, Salman F, Schweser F, Weinstock-Guttman B, Dwyer MG, Zivadinov R. (2024) Sample size estimations for clinical trials using paramagnetic rim lesion rim disappearance or appearance as an endpoint. ECTRIMS. Copenhagen, Denmark (Jul), (182) Poster
  • Tranquille A, GReeves JA, Bartnik A, Mohebbi M, Salman F, Jakimovski D, Schweser F, Weinstock-Guttman B, Hojnacki D, Eckert S, Dwyer MG, Tavazzi E, Zivadinov R, Bergsland N. (2024) Chronic white matter inflammation is associated with choroid plexus volume and expansion over 5 years in people with progressive multiple sclerosis. ECTRIMS. Copenhagen, Denmark (Jul), (717) Poster
  • Riedl C, Bohrmann D, Steinmaurer A, Novak A, Mildner M, Romana H, Schweser F, Hametner S. (2024) Changes in the iron handling machinery of myeloid cells in pwMS. ECTRIMS. Copenhagen, Denmark (Jul), (1757) Poster
  • Jochmann T, Kügler N, Omira A, Zivadinov R, Haueisen J, Schweser F. (2024) Beyond the dipole: unveiling the hidden impact of nondipolar shifts on MRI phase contrast anisotropy in the brain. Proc Intl Soc Mag Reson Med. Singapore, Singapore (Jul) Poster
See all (74 more)

Professional Memberships:

  • Sigma Xi; Full Member (2023–present)
  • Upstate New York Association Of Physicist In Medicine (UNYAPM) (2021–present)
  • American Association of University Professors (AAUP) (2021–present)
  • American Academy of Neurology (AAN) (2016–present)
  • Association of the friends & sponsors of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (2014–present)
  • German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) (2013–present)
  • German Society for Medical Physics (DGMP) (2012–present)
  • European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB) (2011–present)
  • International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) (2010–present)
  • German chapter of the ISMRM (DS-ISMRM) (2009–present)
See all (1 more)

Presentations:

  • "Discussion on QSM Consensus, Future Goals & Challenges" Electromagnetic Tissue Properties Study Group of the ISMRM (2024)
  • "Introduction to the QSM consensus paper" International Workshop on MRI Phase Contrast and Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (2024)
  • "QSM consensus. Report on publications and discuss future goals and challenges" International Workshop on MRI Phase Contrast and Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (2024)
  • "Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping" Philips Combined Neuroscience and Spine User Meeting (2024)
  • "Imaging of Iron in MS" The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) Annual Meeting (2023)
  • "Deciphering Brain Iron Dynamics: Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping and Beyond" Department of Biomedical Engineering (2023)
  • "Multiple Sclerosis and MRI of Brain Iron: Translational Ping Pong between Clinical Discovery and Methodological Imaging Research" Department of Neurology, Grand Rounds (2023)
  • "Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping - Consensus & Clinical Applications" Philips International Application & Clinical Science Meeting (IACSM) (2023)
  • "Recommended Implementation of Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping for Clinical Research in The Brain: A Consensus of the ISMRM Electro-Magnetic Tissue Properties Study Group" Electromagnetic Tissue Properties Study Group of the ISMRM (2022)
  • "How to Measure Tissue Magnetic Properties with MRI" International Workshop on MRI Phase Contrast and Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (2022)
See all (3 more)

Service Activities:

  • Source Separation session at 2024 EMTP Workshop in Santiago, Chile.; Session co-chair (2024)
  • Annual Meeting of the ISMRM in Singapore, Singapore. Historical Fireside Chat: Moments in susceptibility imaging history; Moderator (2024)
  • Annual Meeting of the ISMRM in Singapore, Singapore. Educational session: Absolute Beginner's Guide to Susceptibility Imaging.; Session chair (2024)
  • 2023-24 Art of Research competition, University at Buffalo; Judge (2024)
  • National Institutes of Health 2024 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) TCB-M2; Special Emphasis Panel (2024)
  • National Institutes of Health 2024/01 Glioma, MS & Neuroinflammation Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1 CN-S 03); Special Emphasis Panel (2023)
  • The Expert Reviewer Committee reviews incidental findings at the imaging center. As the chair of the committee, I triage review requests and coordinate com-mittee reviews.; Chair of Expert Reviewer Committee, Center for Biomedical Imaging (2023–present)
  • UB Integrated Methods and Application Group for Imaging and Networking Excellence (UB-IMAGINE); Co-Director (2023–present)
  • 2023 Buffalo Imaging Research Symposium; Organizing Committee Member (2023)
  • Faculty Mentoring Committee; Member (2023–present)
  • 2024 EMTP Workshop in Santiago, Chile.; Steering committee member (2023–2024)
  • Brown WR, Cheng Y-C N, Haacke EM (Eds.), Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Physical Principles and Sequence Design.; Ad Hoc Book Chapter Reviewer (2023)
  • National Institutes of Health 2023/01 Emerging Imaging Technologies in Neuroscience (EITN) meeting; Special Emphasis Panel (2023)
  • University of Alberta, Canada. Candidate: Nashwan Naji. Title: Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping in Human Brain: Short Echo-Timing, and Non-harmonized Multisite Applications.; External Dissertation Reviewer (2022–2023)
  • Department Representative, Department of Neurology; Jacobs School Awards Committee (2022–present)
  • Departmental Awards Committee, Department of Neurology; Member (2022–present)
  • National Institutes of Health 2022/03 Clinical Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumors (CNBT) meeting; Special Emphasis Panel (2022)
  • Center for Biomedical Imaging; Faculty Project Manager for 3T MRI Installation (2022–2023)
  • Center for Biomedical Imaging, 2022 Pilot Grant Program; Member (2022)
  • QSM Consensus White Paper, Electro-Magnetic Tissue Properties Study Group.; Co-chair of committee (2022–2024)
  • National Institutes of Health 2022/01 Clinical Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumors (CNBT) meeting; Special Emphasis Panel (2021)
  • Faculty Senate; Senator (2021–2022)
  • Jezzard, P. & Choi, I.-Y. (Eds.). Advanced Neuro Magnetic Resonance Techniques and Applications. Academic Press (Elsevier).; Ad Hoc Book Chapter Reviewer (2021)
  • The New England Journal of Medicine; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2021–present)
  • Working Group for the procurement of a new human 3T MRI; Member (2020–2022)
  • Center for Biomedical Imaging; Co-Director (2020–present)
  • Frontiers in Neuroscience; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2020–present)
  • Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Educational session: MR Physics for Scientists I.; Session chair (2020)
  • Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Oral scientific session: Contrast Mechanisms—Acquisition and Fitting Methods; Session chair (2020)
  • Human Brain Mapping; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2020–present)
  • European Journal of Neurology; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2019–present)
  • Steering committee for the 2022 EPT-QSM Workshop in Lucca, Italy; Member (2019–2022)
  • Heliyon, Cell Press; Associate Editor for Clinical Research/Medical Imaging (2019–2023)
  • Northeast Regional Conference on Complex Systems; Program Committee Member (2019–2020)
  • Journal of the Neurological Sciences; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2018–present)
  • Frontiers Human Neuroscience; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2018–present)
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2018–present)
  • Steering Committee of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute; Alternate (2017–present)
  • Neuroradiology; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2016–present)
  • Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Imaging (2015–present)
  • NeuroImage: Clinical; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2015–present)
  • PLOS ONE; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2015–present)
  • International Journal of Molecular Sciences; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2015–present)
  • BMC Medical Imaging; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2015–present)
  • NMR in Biomedicine; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2014–present)
  • Journal of Alzheimer's disease; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2014–present)
  • Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2014–present)
  • IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2014–present)
  • European Radiology; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2014–present)
  • Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2014–present)
  • Magnetic Resonance in Medicine; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2014–present)
  • Neuroimage; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2014–present)
  • Journal of Neuroimaging; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2014–present)
  • ISMRM Ad Hoc Committee on Standards for Quantitative MR; Committee Member (2014–2015)
  • ISMRM Electro-Magnetic Tissue Properties Study Group; Committee Member (2014–2015)
  • Second international workshop on MRI phase contrast and quantitative susceptibility mapping; Committee Member (2013)
  • Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2013–present)
  • Frontiers in Brain Imaging Methods; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2013–present)
  • IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2013–present)
  • Frontiers in Biomedical Physics; Editorial Board Member (2013–present)
  • European Radiology; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2012–present)
  • Magnetic Resonance in Medicine; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2012–present)
  • NeuroImage; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2012–present)
  • First international workshop on MRI phase contrast and quantitative susceptibility mapping; Organizing Committee Member (2010–2011)
  • Zeitschrift fuer Medizinische Physik; Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer (2010–present)
  • Hetzler Foundation Pilot Grants; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • UB Clinical and Translational Science Institute, CBI Pilot Studies Program; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • UK Medical Research Council, Senior Clinical Fellowship; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience Pilot Program, The University of Rochester, USA; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter, FOM, The Netherlands; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • FWF Austrian Science Fund, Austria; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • Israeli Ministry of Science & Technology, French-Israeli Cooperation program, Israel; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Discovery Grants, Canada; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • PennState Clinical and Translational Science Institute, CTSA Pilot Studies Program, USA; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, USA; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Spark program, Switzerland; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), The Investment Subsidy ZonMw/NWO BIG, The Netherlands; Scientific Grant Reviewer
  • UK Medical Research Council, Clinical Research Training Fellowship—Pre Doc; Scientific Grant Reviewer

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Contact Information

6045C CTRC
875 Ellicott Street
Buffalo, New York 14203
Phone: (716) 888-4718
schweser@buffalo.edu