About
The Cognitive Imaging Research Center
CIRC is Michigan State University's hub for human neuroimaging — a community of investigators, engineers, and clinicians advancing how we image and understand the brain.
Who we are
CIRC was established in the early 2010s by Dr. David Zhu in the Department of Radiology as a dedicated, faculty-led hub for advanced human neuroimaging. In spring 2024, Dr. Norman Scheel assumed directorship and expanded its focus on multimodal neuroimaging, resting-state fMRI, and advanced computational approaches — network analysis, machine learning, and dynamical-systems modeling.
We held our inaugural CIRC Symposium in August 2025, bringing together investigators and partners from across Michigan and beyond, as the center enters a new era anchored by the Siemens Biograph One PET/MR.
What we do
CIRC connects member laboratories with the facilities, methods, and support they need: scanner access, harmonized and containerized pipelines, quality control, research computing, and a collaborative network of imaging expertise. It also serves as a training environment for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students engaged in human neuroimaging.
CIRC is closely integrated with the CIIGT imaging core and MSU's Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research (ICER), together providing comprehensive access to acquisition, data management, and high-performance computation.
How we fit together
CIRC and CIIGT
CIRC is the research community; CIIGT is the imaging facility where that research happens.
CIRC — the who
An interdisciplinary community of human-neuroimaging investigators and laboratories across MSU, which this center directs and supports. Explore our research groups.
CIIGT — the where
MSU's advanced imaging core, home of the Siemens Biograph One PET/MR, where CIRC investigators acquire their data. Visit CIIGT ↗
CIRC → CIIGT: our investigators bring the questions and expertise; CIIGT provides the scanners and imaging infrastructure to answer them.