Dr. VanMeter has significant expertise in the analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Her graduate work involved the development of computer algorithms used for the analysis of white matter and gray matter segmentation in structural MRI scans. Before joining the faculty at Georgetown, she was a staff fellow in the Laboratory of Neuroscience in the National Institute of Aging, where she co-authored the first paper to use fMRI to investigate dyslexia (Eden, et al. Nature, 1996). In addition, Dr. VanMeter led the development of a number of major software programs as the Director of Research and Development at Sensor Systems, Inc, including one that one for the analysis of multi-modal datasets including structural MRI and fMRI. She designed and developed the database and data transfer systems used for the MRI data collected in the NIH Pediatric Development (NIHPD) project, a longitudinal study utilizing MRI that studied brain development in 500 children at 7 sites across the country. She was later PI of an NIH-funded STAART (Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment) Center Grant Project, in which a number of MRI-based techniques were used including fMRI, DTI, and MR spectroscopy to investigate the neurobiological basis of autism. Another of her NIH funded R01 grants applied these same techniques to prospectively identify specific deficits or features of underdevelopment in prefrontal cortex and other reward processing centers that predict alcohol initiation and act as risk factors in escalation of alcohol use in a longitudinal study of adolescents.
Her current research focuses on the impact of nutrition and diet on the brain. This includes an ongoing clinical trial of a low-glutamate diet for symptom relief in Gulf War Illness. The pilot study demonstrated significant improvements in a number of neurological symptoms including headache and migraine frequency and intensity.
Since 2006, she has been the Director of Georgetown University’s research-dedicated 3T MRI facility, the Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging (CFMI). During that time, she obtained two Shared Instrumentation Grants from NIH totaling $1,800,000 for the TIM and Prisma upgrades, and an internal grant for the mock scanner purchase ($30,000.) In her role as a team scientist, she collaborates with a number of investigators helping them to maximize the use of various MRI techniques in pursuit of their research.
Dr. VanMeter has been an active member of the Georgetown University community and since she came out as a transgender woman in 2022 she has devoted much of her time to issues of relevance to the LGBTQIA+ community. This has included forming and leading the Trans* @GU part of the Georgetown LGBTQIA+ ERG; developing a new selective course for the medical students on the care and needs of the LGBTQIA+ community; and participating in various outreach forums as an advocate of this community.
Academic Appointment(s)
- Primary
- Professor, SOM - Neurology Academic Department