Paul M. Thompson Ph.D. ’98

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In the field of neuroscience, where multi-disciplinary talents and interaction are the norm, Paul Thompson’s creativity transcends the standards.

A Fulbright Scholar with both undergraduate and master’s degrees from Oxford, Thompson received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship for his research on detection and analysis of abnormal brain structure in Alzheimer’s disease. In 1997, he received the SPIE Medical Imaging Award for Best Paper and the Di Chiro Outstanding Scientific Paper Award. He has authored seven articles in first-rate journals, ranging from those emphasizing mathematics and computation to those focusing exclusively on neuroscience – a rare versatility for an established researcher, much less a graduate student.

Thompson has been a guest speaker at the 1998 International Human Brain Mapping Conference, Montreal; the 1998 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators’ Meeting; the 1997 International Conference on Visualization in Biomedical Computing, Hamburg; and the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Canada. He also holds a certificate from the Guinness Book of Records for record examination achievement.

Serving as the student representative on the curriculum committee for the UCLA interdepartmental graduate program in neuroscience, Thompson helped evaluate students and propose curriculum alterations. He served as a peer reviewer for seven academic journals, including The Journal of Neuroscience and The Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography. In addition, Thompson has lectured in the classroom and been involved in the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, in which he recruited, trained and advised students. Since 1994, he has trained or supervised 12 student projects, four of which were honor theses.

“His statistical prowess is evidenced not only in his papers, but also in his ability to argue and discuss his position with experts around the world. There is no question in my mind that Paul is destined for leadership roles.” – Arthur Toga, director of the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging.