Portrait of Danilo Bzdok

Danilo Bzdok

Core Academic Member
bzdokdan@mila.quebec
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Associate Professor, McGill University, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Research Topics
Computational Biology
Deep Learning
Large Language Models (LLM)
Natural Language Processing

Biography

Danilo Bzdok is a computer scientist and medical doctor by training with a unique dual background in systems neuroscience and machine learning algorithms. After training at RWTH Aachen University (Germany), Université de Lausanne (Switzerland) and Harvard Medical School, Bzdok completed two doctoral degrees, one in neuroscience at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany, and another in computer science (machine learning statistics) at INRIA–Saclay and the Neurospin brain imaging centre in Paris.

Danilo is currently an associate professor at McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine and a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute. His interdisciplinary research centres around narrowing knowledge gaps in the brain basis of human-defining types of thinking in order to uncover key computational design principles underlying human intelligence.

Current Students

Shambhavi Aggarwal
Master's Research - McGill University
Github
Google Scholar
Badr Ait Hammou
Postdoctorate - McGill University
Karan Bali Bali
PhD - McGill University
Gregory Bell
PhD - McGill University
Anwesha Bhattacharya
PhD - McGill University
Pedro Carneiro Carneiro
PhD - McGill University
Github
Liam Hodgson
PhD - McGill University
Ryan McPhedrain McPhedrain
Postdoctorate - McGill University
ryan.mcphedrain@mail.mcgill.ca
David Payette
Master's Research - McGill University
Github
Sepehr Radmannia
Independent visiting researcher - McGill University
sradmannia@gmail.com
Github
Karin Saltoun
PhD - McGill University
Chloé Savignac
PhD - McGill University
Github
Google Scholar
Jack Stanley
PhD - McGill University
Website
Github
Praneet Suresh
PhD - McGill University
Le Zhou
PhD - McGill University

Publications

Population heterogeneity in clinical cohorts affects the predictive accuracy of brain imaging
Oualid Benkarim
Casey Paquola
Bo-yong Park
Valeria Kebets
Seok-Jun Hong
Reinder Vos de Wael
Shaoshi Zhang
B.T. Thomas Yeo
Michael Eickenberg
Tian Ge
Jean-Baptiste Poline
Boris C Bernhardt
Danilo Bzdok
2022-04-29
PLoS Biology (published)
doi.org
Shared and unique brain network features predict cognitive, personality, and mental health scores in the ABCD study
Jianzhong Chen
Angela Tam
Valeria Kebets
Csaba Orban
L.Q.R. Ooi
Leon Qi Rong Ooi
Christopher L. Asplund
Scott Marek
Nico Dosenbach
Simon B. Eickhoff
Danilo Bzdok
Avram J. Holmes
B.T. Thomas Yeo
2022-04-25
Nature Communications (published)
doi.org
Shared and unique brain network features predict cognitive, personality, and mental health scores in the ABCD study
Jianzhong Chen
Angela Tam
Valeria Kebets
Csaba Orban
L.Q.R. Ooi
Christopher L Asplund
Scott A. Marek
N. Dosenbach
Simon B. Eickhoff
Danilo Bzdok
Avram J. Holmes
B.T. Thomas Yeo
2022-04-25
Nature Communications (published)
doi.org
Multivariate, Transgenerational Associations of the COVID-19 Pandemic Across Minoritized and Marginalized Communities.
Sarah W. Yip
Ayana Jordan
Robert J. Kohler
Avram J. Holmes
Danilo Bzdok
Importance The experienced consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have diverged across individuals, families, and communities, resulting in i… (see more)nequity within a host of factors. There is a gap of quantitative evidence about the transgenerational impacts of these experiences and factors. Objective To identify baseline predictors of COVID-19 experiences, as defined by child and parent report, using a multivariate pattern-learning framework from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) cohort. Design, Setting, and Participants ABCD is an ongoing prospective longitudinal study of child and adolescent development in the United States including 11 875 youths, enrolled at age 9 to 10 years. Using nationally collected longitudinal profiling data from 9267 families, a multivariate pattern-learning strategy was developed to identify factor combinations associated with transgenerational costs of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. ABCD data (release 3.0) collected from 2016 to 2020 and released between 2019 and 2021 were analyzed in combination with ABCD COVID-19 rapid response data from the first 3 collection points (May-August 2020). Exposures Social distancing and other response measures imposed by COVID-19, including school closures and shutdown of many childhood recreational activities. Main Outcomes and Measures Mid-COVID-19 experiences as defined by the ABCD's parent and child COVID-19 assessments. Results Deep profiles from 9267 youth (5681 female [47.8%]; mean [SD] age, 119.0 [7.5] months) and their caregivers were quantitatively examined. Enabled by a pattern-learning analysis, social determinants of inequity, including family structure, socioeconomic status, and the experience of racism, were found to be primarily associated with transgenerational impacts of COVID-19, above and beyond other candidate predictors such as preexisting medical or psychiatric conditions. Pooling information across more than 17 000 baseline pre-COVID-19 family indicators and more than 280 measures of day-to-day COVID-19 experiences, non-White (ie, families who reported being Asian, Black, Hispanic, other, or a combination of those choices) and/or Spanish-speaking families were found to have decreased resources (mode 1, canonical vector weight [CVW] = 0.19; rank 5 of 281), escalated likelihoods of financial worry (mode 1, CVW = -0.20; rank 4), and food insecurity (mode 1, CVW = 0.21; rank 2), yet were more likely to have parent-child discussions regarding COVID-19-associated health and prevention issues, such as handwashing (mode 1, CVW = 0.14; rank 9), conserving food or other items (mode 1, CVW = 0.21; rank 1), protecting elderly individuals (mode 1, CVW = 0.11; rank 21), and isolating from others (mode 1, CVW = 0.11; rank 23). In contrast, White families (mode 1, CVW = -0.07; rank 3), those with higher pre-COVID-19 income (mode 1, CVW = -0.07; rank 5), and presence of a parent with a postgraduate degree (mode 1, CVW = -0.06; rank 14) experienced reduced COVID-19-associated impact. In turn, children from families experiencing reduced COVID-19 impacts reported longer nighttime sleep durations (mode 1, CVW = 0.13; rank 14), less difficulties with remote learning (mode 2, CVW = 0.14; rank 7), and decreased worry about the impact of COVID-19 on their family's financial stability (mode 1, CVW = 0.134; rank 13). Conclusions and Relevance The findings of this study indicate that community-level, transgenerational intervention strategies may be needed to combat the disproportionate burden of pandemics on minoritized and marginalized racial and ethnic populations.
2022-04-01
JAMA Psychiatry (published)
doi.org
Population heterogeneity in clinical cohorts affects the predictive accuracy of brain imaging
O. Benkarim
Casey Paquola
Bo-yong Park
Valeria Kebets
Seokjun Hong
Reinder Vos de Wael
Shaoshi Zhang
B.T. Thomas Yeo
Michael Eickenberg
Tian Ge
Jean-Baptiste Poline
B. Bernhardt
Danilo Bzdok
Brain imaging research enjoys increasing adoption of supervised machine learning for single-participant disease classification. Yet, the suc… (see more)cess of these algorithms likely depends on population diversity, including demographic differences and other factors that may be outside of primary scientific interest. Here, we capitalize on propensity scores as a composite confound index to quantify diversity due to major sources of population variation. We delineate the impact of population heterogeneity on the predictive accuracy and pattern stability in 2 separate clinical cohorts: the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE, n = 297) and the Healthy Brain Network (HBN, n = 551). Across various analysis scenarios, our results uncover the extent to which cross-validated prediction performances are interlocked with diversity. The instability of extracted brain patterns attributable to diversity is located preferentially in regions part of the default mode network. Collectively, our findings highlight the limitations of prevailing deconfounding practices in mitigating the full consequences of population diversity.
2022-04-01
PLoS Biology (published)
doi.org
Cross-ethnicity/race generalization failure of behavioral prediction from resting-state functional connectivity
Jingwei Li
Danilo Bzdok
Jianzhong Chen
Angela Tam
Leon Qi
Leon Qi Rong Ooi
Avram J. Holmes
Tian Ge
Kaustubh R. Patil
Mbemba Jabbi
Simon B. Eickhoff
B.T. Thomas Yeo
Sarah Genon
Algorithmic biases that favor majority populations pose a key challenge to the application of machine learning for precision medicine. Here,… (see more) we assessed such bias in prediction models of behavioral phenotypes from brain functional magnetic resonance imaging. We examined the prediction bias using two independent datasets (preadolescent versus adult) of mixed ethnic/racial composition. When predictive models were trained on data dominated by white Americans (WA), out-of-sample prediction errors were generally higher for African Americans (AA) than for WA. This bias toward WA corresponds to more WA-like brain-behavior association patterns learned by the models. When models were trained on AA only, compared to training only on WA or an equal number of AA and WA participants, AA prediction accuracy improved but stayed below that for WA. Overall, the results point to the need for caution and further research regarding the application of current brain-behavior prediction models in minority populations.
2022-03-16
Science Advances (published)
doi.org
Cross-ethnicity/race generalization failure of behavioral prediction from resting-state functional connectivity
Jingwei Li
Danilo Bzdok
Jianzhong Chen
Angela Tam
Leon Qi
Rong Ooi
Avram J. Holmes
Tian Ge
K. Patil
M. Jabbi
Simon B. Eickhoff
B.T. Thomas Yeo
Sarah Genon
Algorithmic biases that favor majority populations pose a key challenge to the application of machine learning for precision medicine. Here,… (see more) we assessed such bias in prediction models of behavioral phenotypes from brain functional magnetic resonance imaging. We examined the prediction bias using two independent datasets (preadolescent versus adult) of mixed ethnic/racial composition. When predictive models were trained on data dominated by white Americans (WA), out-of-sample prediction errors were generally higher for African Americans (AA) than for WA. This bias toward WA corresponds to more WA-like brain-behavior association patterns learned by the models. When models were trained on AA only, compared to training only on WA or an equal number of AA and WA participants, AA prediction accuracy improved but stayed below that for WA. Overall, the results point to the need for caution and further research regarding the application of current brain-behavior prediction models in minority populations.
2022-03-01
Science Advances (published)
doi.org
More Than Meets the Eye: Art Engages the Social Brain
Janneke E. P. van Leeuwen
Jeroen Boomgaard
Danilo Bzdok
S. Crutch
J. Warren
Here we present the viewpoint that art essentially engages the social brain, by demonstrating how art processing maps onto the social brain … (see more)connectome—the most comprehensive diagram of the neural dynamics that regulate human social cognition to date. We start with a brief history of the rise of neuroaesthetics as the scientific study of art perception and appreciation, in relation to developments in contemporary art practice and theory during the same period. Building further on a growing awareness of the importance of social context in art production and appreciation, we then set out how art engages the social brain and outline candidate components of the “artistic brain connectome.” We explain how our functional model for art as a social brain phenomenon may operate when engaging with artworks. We call for closer collaborations between the burgeoning field of neuroaesthetics and arts professionals, cultural institutions and diverse audiences in order to fully delineate and contextualize this model. Complementary to the unquestionable value of art for art’s sake, we argue that its neural grounding in the social brain raises important practical implications for mental health, and the care of people living with dementia and other neurological conditions.
2022-02-25
Frontiers in Neuroscience (published)
doi.org
More Than Meets the Eye: Art Engages the Social Brain
Janneke E. P. van Leeuwen
Jeroen Boomgaard
Danilo Bzdok
Sebastian J. Crutch
Jason D. Warren
2022-02-25
Frontiers in Neuroscience (published)
doi.org
Multivariate, Transgenerational Associations of the COVID-19 Pandemic Across Minoritized and Marginalized Communities.
S. Yip
Ayana Jordan
Robert J. Kohler
Avram J. Holmes
Danilo Bzdok
Importance The experienced consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have diverged across individuals, families, and communities, resulting in i… (see more)nequity within a host of factors. There is a gap of quantitative evidence about the transgenerational impacts of these experiences and factors. Objective To identify baseline predictors of COVID-19 experiences, as defined by child and parent report, using a multivariate pattern-learning framework from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) cohort. Design, Setting, and Participants ABCD is an ongoing prospective longitudinal study of child and adolescent development in the United States including 11 875 youths, enrolled at age 9 to 10 years. Using nationally collected longitudinal profiling data from 9267 families, a multivariate pattern-learning strategy was developed to identify factor combinations associated with transgenerational costs of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. ABCD data (release 3.0) collected from 2016 to 2020 and released between 2019 and 2021 were analyzed in combination with ABCD COVID-19 rapid response data from the first 3 collection points (May-August 2020). Exposures Social distancing and other response measures imposed by COVID-19, including school closures and shutdown of many childhood recreational activities. Main Outcomes and Measures Mid-COVID-19 experiences as defined by the ABCD's parent and child COVID-19 assessments. Results Deep profiles from 9267 youth (5681 female [47.8%]; mean [SD] age, 119.0 [7.5] months) and their caregivers were quantitatively examined. Enabled by a pattern-learning analysis, social determinants of inequity, including family structure, socioeconomic status, and the experience of racism, were found to be primarily associated with transgenerational impacts of COVID-19, above and beyond other candidate predictors such as preexisting medical or psychiatric conditions. Pooling information across more than 17 000 baseline pre-COVID-19 family indicators and more than 280 measures of day-to-day COVID-19 experiences, non-White (ie, families who reported being Asian, Black, Hispanic, other, or a combination of those choices) and/or Spanish-speaking families were found to have decreased resources (mode 1, canonical vector weight [CVW] = 0.19; rank 5 of 281), escalated likelihoods of financial worry (mode 1, CVW = -0.20; rank 4), and food insecurity (mode 1, CVW = 0.21; rank 2), yet were more likely to have parent-child discussions regarding COVID-19-associated health and prevention issues, such as handwashing (mode 1, CVW = 0.14; rank 9), conserving food or other items (mode 1, CVW = 0.21; rank 1), protecting elderly individuals (mode 1, CVW = 0.11; rank 21), and isolating from others (mode 1, CVW = 0.11; rank 23). In contrast, White families (mode 1, CVW = -0.07; rank 3), those with higher pre-COVID-19 income (mode 1, CVW = -0.07; rank 5), and presence of a parent with a postgraduate degree (mode 1, CVW = -0.06; rank 14) experienced reduced COVID-19-associated impact. In turn, children from families experiencing reduced COVID-19 impacts reported longer nighttime sleep durations (mode 1, CVW = 0.13; rank 14), less difficulties with remote learning (mode 2, CVW = 0.14; rank 7), and decreased worry about the impact of COVID-19 on their family's financial stability (mode 1, CVW = 0.134; rank 13). Conclusions and Relevance The findings of this study indicate that community-level, transgenerational intervention strategies may be needed to combat the disproportionate burden of pandemics on minoritized and marginalized racial and ethnic populations.
2022-02-09
JAMA psychiatry (published)
doi.org
Sex-specific lesion pattern of functional outcomes after stroke
Anna K. Bonkhoff
Martin Bretzner
Sungmin Hong
Markus D. Schirmer
Alexander Cohen
Robert W. Regenhardt
Kathleen Donahue
Marco Nardin
Adrian Dalca
Anne-Katrin Giese
Mark R. Etherton
Brandon L. Hancock
Steven J.T. Mocking
Elissa McIntosh
John Attia
Oscar Benavente
Stephen Bevan
John W. Cole
Amanda Donatti
Christoph Griessenauer … (see 39 more)
Laura Heitsch
Lukas Holmegaard
Katarina Jood
Jordi Jimenez-Conde
Steven Kittner
Robin Lemmens
Christopher Levi
Caitrin W. McDonough
James Meschia
Chia-Ling Phuah
Arndt Rolfs
Stefan Ropele
Jonathan Rosand
Jaume Roquer
Tatjana Rundek
Ralph L. Sacco
Reinhold Schmidt
Pankaj Sharma
Agnieszka Slowik
Martin Soederholm
Alessandro Sousa
Tara M. Stanne
Daniel Strbian
Turgut Tatlisumak
Vincent Thijs
Achala Vagal
Johan Wasselius
Daniel Woo
Ramin Zand
Patrick McArdle
Bradford B. Worrall
Christina Jern
Arne G. Lindgren
Jane Maguire
Michael D. Fox
Danilo Bzdok
Ona Wu
Natalia S. Rost
Anna K. Martin Sungmin Markus D. Alexander Robert W. Kathleen L. Marco J. Adrian V. Anne-Katrin Mark R. Brandon L. Steven J. T. Elissa C. John Oscar R. Stephen John W. Amanda Christoph J. Laura Lukas Katarina Jordi Steven J. Robin Christopher R. Caitrin W. James F. Chia-Ling Arndt Stefan Jonathan Jaume Tatjana Ralph L. Reinhold Pankaj Agnieszka Martin Alessandro Tara M. Daniel Turgut Vincent Achala Johan Daniel Ramin Patrick F. Bradford B. Christina Arne G. Jane Michael D. Danilo Ona Natalia S. Bonkhoff
2022-02-02
Brain Communications (published)
doi.org
Sex-specific lesion pattern of functional outcomes after stroke
Anna K. Bonkhoff
Martin Bretzner
Sungmin Hong
Markus D. Schirmer
Alexander L. Cohen
Robert W. Regenhardt
Kathleen Donahue
Marco Nardin
Adrian Dalca
Anne-Katrin Giese
Mark R. Etherton
Brandon L. Hancock
Steven J.T. Mocking
Elissa McIntosh
John Richard Attia
Oscar Benavente
S. Bevan
John W. Cole
Amanda Donatti
Christoph Griessenauer … (see 38 more)
Laura Heitsch
Lukas Holmegaard
Katarina Jood
Jordi Jimenez-Conde
Steven Kittner
Robin Lemmens
C. Levi
Caitrin W. McDonough
James Meschia
Chia-Ling Phuah
Arndt Rolfs
Stefan Ropele
Jonathan Rosand
Jaume Roquer
Tatjana Rundek
Ralph L. Sacco
Reinhold Schmidt
Pankaj Sharma
Agnieszka Slowik
Martin Söderholm
Alessandro Sousa
Tara M. Stanne
Daniel Strbian
Turgut Tatlisumak
Vincent Thijs
Achala Vagal
Johan Wasselius
Daniel Woo
Ramin Zand
P. McArdle
Bradford B. Worrall
Christina Jern
Arne G. Lindgren
Jane Maguire
M. Fox
Danilo Bzdok
Ona Wu
Natalia S. Rost
Abstract Stroke represents a considerable burden of disease for both men and women. However, a growing body of literature suggests clinicall… (see more)y relevant sex differences in the underlying causes, presentations and outcomes of acute ischaemic stroke. In a recent study, we reported sex divergences in lesion topographies: specific to women, acute stroke severity was linked to lesions in the left-hemispheric posterior circulation. We here determined whether these sex-specific brain manifestations also affect long-term outcomes. We relied on 822 acute ischaemic patients [age: 64.7 (15.0) years, 39% women] originating from the multi-centre MRI-GENIE study to model unfavourable outcomes (modified Rankin Scale >2) based on acute neuroimaging data in a Bayesian hierarchical framework. Lesions encompassing bilateral subcortical nuclei and left-lateralized regions in proximity to the insula explained outcomes across men and women (area under the curve = 0.81). A pattern of left-hemispheric posterior circulation brain regions, combining left hippocampus, precuneus, fusiform and lingual gyrus, occipital pole and latero-occipital cortex, showed a substantially higher relevance in explaining functional outcomes in women compared to men [mean difference of Bayesian posterior distributions (men – women) = −0.295 (90% highest posterior density interval = −0.556 to −0.068)]. Once validated in prospective studies, our findings may motivate a sex-specific approach to clinical stroke management and hold the promise of enhancing outcomes on a population level.
2022-02-02
Brain Communications (published)
doi.org