Damien Fair facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Damien Fair
Fair at the Flux Congress in 2013
Alma mater	Augustana University, BS (1998) Yale University School of Medicine, MMSc (2001) Washington University School of Medicine, PhD (2008)
Awards	MacArthur Fellowship (2020), Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2013)
Scientific career
Fields	Behavioral neuroscience
Institutions	University of Minnesota Medical School, 2020 – Present Oregon Health & Science University, 2014 – 2020

Damien Fair is a leading behavioral neuroscientist. He is a professor at the University of Minnesota. He also directs the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. In 2020, he received a special award called the MacArthur Fellows Program. In 2013, he was honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. This award recognizes top young scientists.

Early Life and Education

Damien Fair grew up in Winona, Minnesota. His mother was a court reporter. His stepfather worked for IBM. He went to Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He studied pre-medicine there. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1998.

After college, he joined a program at Yale University. He trained to be a physician assistant. He finished this program in 2001. Then, he worked with stroke patients at Yale. This was in the neurology department. Here, he first experienced biomedical research.

In 2003, he decided to study more. He went to Washington University in St. Louis. He pursued a PhD degree in neuroscience. His research focused on how stroke affects babies' brains. He became interested in a method called resting state fMRI.

This method uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). It helps scientists see how brain parts talk to each other. This happens when someone is just resting. He worked with Marcus Raichle. They found a way to use old fMRI scans. They could find this resting state information. He used this new method. He also used math models. This helped him understand how brain networks grow over time.

After his PhD in 2008, Fair continued his work. He went to Oregon Health & Science University. He was a postdoctoral fellow. He kept improving the resting-state fMRI technology. He worked with psychologists Joel Nigg and Bonnie Nagel. They studied how teen brains develop. He made the method better. It could fix problems from movement during scans.

Understanding the Brain

In 2014, Fair became a professor. This was at Oregon Health & Science University. He also helped start a company called Nous Imaging Inc. In 2020, he moved to the University of Minnesota. He is now a professor there. He also leads the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain.

This institute opened in October 2021. It helps with brain development issues. It focuses on early diagnosis and treatment. This includes conditions that affect how the brain grows.

How Brain Parts Connect

Fair's research looks at how different brain areas work together. He uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). He also uses methods he created earlier. These methods help map the links between brain regions. This map is called the connectome.

Everyone has a unique connectome. It's like a "functional fingerprint" for your brain. This fingerprint makes each person's thinking unique. His team found that 30% of this fingerprint is special to each person. They also discovered that certain brain connection patterns can be passed down in families. They could even guess family members based on their connectomes.

Fair's team studies connectomes. They look at how they are similar and different. They study people doing tasks and also when they are resting. His work often focuses on conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder. He also studies other conditions in children.

Understanding brain activity at rest is important. It gives his team a baseline. This helps them see unique brain activity. This activity is linked to certain brain disorders. Fair's team has used this mapping. They found different patterns in the connectomes of children with autism. This can help identify different types of autism. This helps create better treatments for children.

Helping Neurodiverse Children

Fair uses his research to help children. He supports fair education for neurodiverse children. These are children whose brains work differently. He has shared his work with lawmakers. He explained that the same condition can have different brain causes. This makes it hard to find the right treatments.

Fair also works on a team at the University of Minnesota. They are developing a low-cost, portable MRI machine. He helps make sure this new technology is used well and fairly.

Awards and Honors

• Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 2013
• MacArthur Fellowship, 2020

Personal Life

Damien Fair is married to Rahel Nardos. She is a urogynecologist. She also directs Global Women's Health. They met when they were both at Yale School of Medicine.