Josh Faskowitz

Hi there! 👋 I’m a postdoctoral fellow in the Section on Functional Imaging Methods (aka Dr. Peter Bandettini’s group) at the NIMH. I study how functional networks are organized across the brain 🧠 in space 📍 and time ⏱️, with a particular interest in edge-centric approaches to fMRI and computational models of brain organization.

I completed my Ph.D. in 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Olaf Sporns at Indiana University and thereafter I completed a postdoc year jointly with the Brain Networks & Behavior Lab and the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. My work sits within a scientific community that examines brain architecture through the lens of networks 🕸️, using network science & graph theorical applications. An advantage of our network neuroscience approach is that we can attempt to clarify “organization” with intuitive algorithms and simplifying operations 💻, all while retaining sensitivity to the complexities of our data. My grad work was supported by an NSF GRFP, the IU graduate school, and the IU psych department.

Check out my Github for scripts, code, and data related to these endeavors (projects on community detection in brain networks here and here! Also, some edgy tools here and here and here). I’ve also been compiling a list of openly-available brain network data, for all of us to enjoy. I’ve benefited greatly from my colleagues’ openly available data and code. Hopefully I can return the favor!

I studied neuroscience and cognitive science (and minored in marketing 🤷) at the University of Southern California ✌️ (2014), and spent my time as an undergraduate assistant in Dr. Mara Mather’s Emotion and Cognition Lab. Following graduation, I made the trek westward to Marina del Rey, where I worked as a research assistant for the USC Imaging Genetics Center under the mentorship of Dr. Neda Jahanshad. There I assisted on a wide range of projects (including Enigma), and picked up an affinity for bash scripting, data sharing, and non-linear registration techniques.

I’m originally from Orange County, CA - a nice locale with a stunning shoreline 🌴, great weather, and a vibrant sporting culture. I’m an admirer of modern architecture and abstract art. I enjoy perusing Google Earth 🌍 for unique geological features and man-made wonders. I am fond of Americano coffee, spy novels, 1970s prog-rock, Jeopardy!, grillin’ burgers, and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. I’m an especially avid disc golf 🥏⛳️ and pickleball player 🥒🎾. I would be remiss not to mention my wonderful family: my wife Elizabeth and our baby daughter, who shares my affection for Richard Scarry illustrations and long afternoon naps.

Academic links

• Curriculum Vitae: some info on positions, papers, talks, and teaching.
• Google Scholar: publications, citation counts, and the usual scholarly bookkeeping.
• Publons: peer-review activity and publication-related metadata.
• Figshare: shared datasets, figures, and other research outputs.

Professional and semi-professional internet

• Twitter: science, links, and occasional non-science detours.
• LinkedIn: the formal career summary version of me.

Other corners of the internet

• LA Times interview: a very old but still amusing appearance from 1998.
• Leavy Library wall of scholars: apparently I made it onto a wall.
• High-school art: some older visual work from well before the brain-network era.