David Roalf

Imaging brain glutamate at ultra‑high field.

I'm a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania. My lab uses 7 Tesla MRI, especially glutamate‑weighted CEST (GluCEST), to measure excitatory–inhibitory balance across the lifespan and across psychiatric and neurological conditions.

roalf@pennmedicine.upenn.edu Google Scholar PubMed
Midsagittal glutamate-weighted CEST map of the human brain at 7 Tesla, colored from blue (low) to red (high GluCEST contrast)
GluCEST map, 7T, midsagittal. Warmer colors mark higher contrast at +3 ppm, where glutamate amine protons exchange with water.
Parcellated GluCEST map of the human brain showing regional glutamate-weighted contrast
Regional (parcellated) GluCEST contrast, pyGluCEST.

Research

+30−3 ppm10 GluCEST 7T · GluCEST · E/I balance

Measuring glutamate in the living human brain

Developing and validating glutamate‑weighted CEST at 7 Tesla: reproducibility, B₁ correction, relationships to receptor density, and the open‑source pyGluCEST processing pipeline.

pq q11.2~3 Mb deletion chromosome 22 Psychosis spectrum · 22q11.2 deletion

Neurodevelopmental risk for psychosis

Glutamate, white‑matter microstructure, and craniofacial and midline brain markers in youth at risk for psychosis and in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Infrastructure roles on AMP‑SCZ ProNET.

early markersymptoms age cognition healthy MCI / AD Aging · Alzheimer's · Parkinson's

Early markers of cognitive decline

Hippocampal glutamate in healthy aging, olfactory screening for incipient Alzheimer's disease, within‑individual variability, and brief cognitive screens including the short‑form MoCA.

E I glutamateGABA E/I balance Cannabis · Epilepsy · MS · Depression

Glutamate across conditions

Collaborative 7T studies of cannabis use in psychosis, drug‑resistant epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and treatment response in depression, asking whether E/I imbalance is a shared mechanism.

People

Lab

Affiliated lab members

Collaborators & alumni →

Selected publications 179 publications · PubMed → · Google Scholar →

Software & tools

Sagittal brain with GluCEST values mapped onto a cortical parcellation Python · 7T GluCEST

pyGluCEST

Open‑source pipeline for processing glutamate‑weighted CEST data: B₀/B₁ correction, contrast calculation, and atlas‑space output. See the ISMRM 2022 abstract on building a robust, reproducible GluCEST pipeline.

ISMRM abstract →
MMSE MoCA 30 0 30 0 AD / PD look‑up tables R · neuropsychology · 2017

MMSE ↔ MoCA conversion

R script and look‑up tables that convert MMSE to MoCA scores and back, using the published crosswalks for Alzheimer’s disease (Roalf et al., Alzheimer’s & Dementia 2013) and Parkinson’s disease (van Steenoven et al., Movement Disorders 2014). Includes a README and a test file; questions to roalf@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

Download (.zip, 7 KB) →
Bash · 2016

Diffusion QA scripts

Quality‑assurance scripts for raw diffusion MRI data (Roalf & Elliott). qa_dti_v1.sh takes a NIfTI, bval and bvec and writes motion, clip‑count and tSNR metrics for each acquisition.

Download (.zip, 8 KB) →

Teaching & mentoring

Faculty Co‑Director, Penn Neuroscience Graduate Group Systems Neuroscience core (2024–). Lecturer for PGY2 psychiatry residents on neuroimaging in psychiatry and the neurobiology of aging and cognition.

Member of the NGG Admissions and Academic Review committees; program committee for the Society of Biological Psychiatry annual meeting.

Trainees. Primary supervisor for MD/PhD and NGG students, and faculty mentor to a long line of post‑bac research coordinators and summer scholars, many of whom have gone on to graduate and medical training. If you're interested in 7T imaging, glutamate, or psychosis‑risk research, get in touch.

Curriculum vitae

Ph.D.
Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, 2010
B.S.
Biological Psychology, The College of William & Mary, 2001
Postdoc
NIH T32 Neuropsychiatry Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, 2010–2013
Faculty
Research Associate Professor of Psychiatry, 2025– · Research Assistant Professor, 2015–2025
Leadership
Associate Director, CAMRIS (Center for Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging & Spectroscopy), Penn Radiology

Full CV (appointments, funding, service, 168 peer‑reviewed publications), updated August 2026.

Download CV (PDF) →

Collaborators & alumni

Collaborators

Much of the lab’s work is done with colleagues across the Brain Behavior Laboratory, the Lifespan Brain Institute, Penn Radiology’s 7T program, and the 22q and You Center at CHOP.

Alumni

  • Margaret (Maggie) Pecsok, Ph.D.MD/PhD student, Neuroscience Graduate Group
  • Phoebe FreedmanClinical Research Coordinator · now MD student, Drexel University College of Medicine
  • Jacquelyn StifelmanClinical Research Coordinator · now Clinical Research Coordinator II, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
  • Mckenna KrallClinical Research Coordinator · now Data Management Coordinator, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals
  • Arianna MordyClinical Research Coordinator · now Ph.D. student in clinical psychology, UCLA
  • Heather RobinsonClinical Research Coordinator · now Ph.D. student in psychology, UConn
  • Joelle JeeNeuroimaging Analyst · now Senior Product Data Analyst, HomeEquity Bank, Toronto
  • Nick WellmanClinical Research Coordinator · now Staff Research Associate II, ALBA Language Neurobiology Lab, UCSF
  • Adam CzernuszenkoClinical Research Coordinator · now MD student, UT Southwestern Medical School
  • Andrew J. D. CrowClinical Research Coordinator, 2016–2019 · now Clinical Research Coordinator III, Medical College of Wisconsin
  • Shila Kabadi, D.P.M.Research Coordinator · now podiatrist, Southwest Podiatry, southwest Virginia

Contact

Email
roalf@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Office
Brain Behavior Laboratory, Richards Building, 3700 Hamilton Walk, 5th Floor, Room A502, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Penn
Faculty profile →