Arthur W. Toga

Arthur W. Toga is an American neuroscientist and the director of the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI) and the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute[1] within the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. He is also the Ghada Irani Chair in Neuroscience and provost professor of ophthalmology, neurology, psychiatry and the behavioral sciences, radiology and engineering.

He founded LONI in 1983 at the Washington University School of Medicine’s McDonnell Center for Higher Brain Function, and has done pioneering work on brain mapping and atlasing, global data sharing and neuroimaging informatics.

Toga has been repeatedly named one of "the world’s most influential scientific minds" and a highly cited researcher by Thomson Reuters and Clarivate.[2][3]

Academic career

Education

Toga received his Bachelor of Science in psychology from the University of Massachusetts in Psychology (cum laude) in 1974. He obtained his Master of Science in Psychology/Neurosciences (cum laude) from Saint Louis University in 1976 and his PhD in Psychology/Neurosciences from Saint Louis University in 1978.[4]

Professional career

Toga began a postdoctoral fellowship at the Washington University School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology in 1978. In 1980, he became a research assistant professor in neurology there, and launched the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging in 1983. He also had a secondary appointment in Washington University's Department of Computer Sciences.

In 1987, Toga became an associate professor at UCLA. During his time at UCLA, Toga was the assistant chairman for research affairs for the Department of Neurology, director of LONI, and co-director of the Division of Brain Mapping within UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute.

Toga was promoted to full professor in 1993 and university professor in 2009. He also received the honor of Distinguished Professor within the Department of Neurology in 2009. Toga served as the assistant dean for the David Geffen School of Medicine between 2008 and 2013, and as the vice chair in the Department of Neurology. He was also the David Geffen Chair in Informatics from 2010 to 2013 and the assistant vice provost of informatics from 2010 to 2012.[5]

In 2013, Toga moved to the University of Southern California,[6] where he was named director of LONI and the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute.[7] At the Keck School of Medicine of USC he is also Provost Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, Psychiatry, Radiology and Biomedical Engineering.[2] In 2016, he was named the Ghada Irani Chair in Neuroscience.[8]

Research contributions

Toga's research has focused on neuroimaging, informatics, and brain mapping. He has developed imaging techniques and large-scale, three-dimensional brain atlases to study Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological disorders. He has participated in federally-funded research projects including the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI),[9] the National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative,[10] the Human Connectome Project,[11] the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative,[12] the Image and Data Archive (IDA), and the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network.[13]

Toga is the founding Editor-in-Chief of NeuroImage, an open-access journal of neuroimaging and informatics.

Influence outside neuroscience

Toga's work has been cited in the fields of sociology,[14] utopian studies,[15] applied philosophy,[16] and law,[17] and discussed in popular science magazines such as Scientific American Mind.[18]

Select Publications

In addition to many research journal publications and book chapter contributions, Toga has co-authored and co-edited several books and reference works, including:

  • Brain Warping (1998) ISBN 9780080525549
  • The Rhesus Monkey Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates (1999) ISBN 9780123582553
  • Brain Mapping: The Systems (2000) ISBN 9780126925456
  • Brain Mapping: The Disorders (2000) ISBN 9780124814608
  • Brain Mapping: The Methods (2002) ISBN 9780126930191
  • Brain Mapping – The Essentials: A Textbook of Neuroimaging (2014) ISBN 9780080921204

Hostage Experience

Toga was aboard TWA flight 847 on June 14, 1985 when it was hijacked and taken, eventually, to Beirut, Lebanon. He was among hostages who appeared at a press conference to plead for a negotiated release.[19] He was released on June 30 along with other hostages, and was greeted by then-Vice President George H. W. Bush.[20][21]

References

  1. ^ "USC Stevens Hall for Neuroimaging officially opens its doors - USC News". news.usc.edu. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  2. ^ a b "Arthur Toga". USC Today. USC News. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  3. ^ "Highly Cited Researchers 2024: Explore the list". Highly Cited Researchers. Clarivate. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  4. ^ Toga, Arthur W. "Arthur W. Toga on LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  5. ^ "LONI People | Laboratory of Neuro Imaging". loni.usc.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  6. ^ "Renowned scientists lead cluster hire of new Trojans - USC News". news.usc.edu. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  7. ^ "$50 million gift names the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute - USC News". news.usc.edu. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  8. ^ Masatani, Melissa (2016-12-02). "Arthur Toga installed as inaugural Ghada Irani Chair in Neuroscience - HSC News". Retrieved 2025-04-21.
  9. ^ Toga, Arthur W.; Neu, Scott; Sheehan, Sidney Taiko; Crawford, Karen; Initiative, for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging (August 14, 2024). "The informatics of ADNI". Alzheimer's & Dementia. 20 (10): 7320–7330. doi:10.1002/alz.14099. PMC 11485413.
  10. ^ "Data Archive for the BRAIN Initiative". The BRAIN Initiative Alliance. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
  11. ^ Kauffman, Lena (March 5, 2012). "Large-Scale Effort to Catalog Neural Connections Moves Into Trial Stage". Radiology Business. Business Intelligence.
  12. ^ Walter, Kenny (August 23, 2019). "Massive Parkinson Disease Database Adding RNA Sequencing Data". HCP Live. MJH Life Sciences. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
  13. ^ Toga, Arthur W.; Neu, Scott C.; Bhatt, Priya; Crawford, Karen L.; Ashish, Naveen (January 2016). "The Global Alzheimer's Association Interactive Network". Alzheimer's & Dementia. 12 (1): 49–54. doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2015.06.1896. PMC 4817494.
  14. ^ Beaulieu, Anne (2001). "Voxels in the Brain: Neuroscience, Informatics and Changing Notions of Objectivity". Social Studies of Science. 31 (5): 635–80. JSTOR 3183102.
  15. ^ Levine, Daniel S. (2009). "Where Is Utopia in the Brain?". Utopian Studies. 20 (2): 249–74. JSTOR 20719948.
  16. ^ Anderson-Fye, Eileen P.; Floersch, Jerry (2011). "'I'm Not Your Typical "Homework Stresses Me Out" Kind of Girl': Psychological Anthropology in Research on College Student Usage of Psychiatric Medications and Mental Health Services". Ethos. 39 (4): 501–21. JSTOR 41343646.
  17. ^ Brown, Teneille; Murphy, Emily (2010). "Through a Scanner Darkly: Functional Neuroimaging as Evidence of a Criminal Defendant's Past Mental States". Stanford Law Review. 62 (4): 1119–208. JSTOR 40649625.
  18. ^ Dobbs, David (2005). "Fact or Phrenology?". Scientific American Mind. Vol. 16, no. 1. pp. 24–31. JSTOR 24997594.
  19. ^ "Hostage urges talks to end 'dire' ordeal". Star-Phoenix. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Associated Press. June 21, 1985. p. A1.
  20. ^ Watson, Brenda (July 1, 1985). "39 American set free". Gainesville Sun (Final ed.). Gainesville, Florida. Associated Press. pp. 1A, 8A.
  21. ^ "Ex-hostage disturbed by fellow hostages' sympathy for Shiites". Gainesville Sun (Suwanee ed.). Gainesville, Florida. Sun news services. July 1, 1985. pp. 1A, 8A.
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