Peter C.M. van Zijl is a research scientist at Kennedy Krieger Institute, as well as the founding director of the F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging. He is also a professor of radiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. van Zijl’s present research focuses on developing new methodologies for using MRI and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) to study brain function and physiology. In addition, he is working on understanding the basic mechanisms of the MRI signal changes measured during functional MRI (fMRI) tests of the brain. He has master’s degree in inorganic chemistry and a doctoral degrees in mathematics and physics. After completing fellowships in nuclear magnetic resonance (Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh) and MRI (National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute), he became a research assistant professor at Georgetown University in 1990. In 1992, he joined the Department of Radiology at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, where he was promoted to associate professor (1992) and professor (1997). In 1999, he became the founding director of the F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. This center has since been awarded status as a National Center for Biomedical Technology Research funded by the National Center for Research Resources. Dr. van Zijl is a fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and has received the society’s gold medal award for scientific achievement.