Irene Wang Laboratory

Research

Current Projects

The focus of Dr. Wang’s research is to advance surgical treatment of MRI-negative (nonlesional) epilepsy patients through novel imaging and neurophysiology techniques:

Advanced MRI post-processing coupled with machine/deep learning to improve detection of epileptogenic lesions

Ultra high-field 7T MRI for epilepsy

MR fingerprinting for epilepsy

Multimodal structural/functional connectivity analyses for epilepsies associated with periventricular nodular heterotopia

Funding Sources

• NIH R01 NS109439
• NIH 2R01 NS109439
• NIH R01 NS120976
• NI Transformative Neuroscience Award
• JoshProvides Epilepsy Assistance Foundation Research Grant
• Epilepsy Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship Grant
  
  

News and Media Reports

• “Clinical Application of MR Fingerprinting in Epilepsy Advances With NIH Grant Renewal”, Cleveland Clinic's Consult QD, 05/2025. 
• “Doctors seek help from AI in medical diagnosis”, NBC News, Dec 19, 2024. 
• “How Cleveland Clinic is Innovating in Healthcare with Data, Analytics, and AI”, Forbes, Oct 6, 2024 
• “Black Line Sign Shows Promise as a Noninvasive Marker for Focal Cortical Dysplasia IIB: Mounting support for the newly described microstructure from a 7T MRI and electroclinicopathologic study”. Cleveland Clinic's Consult QD, 08/2022. 
• “Novel MR Fingerprinting Radiomics Aids in Automated Characterization of Epileptic Lesions - Machine learning models shown to accurately separate lesions from normal brain, distinguish lesion subtypes”. Cleveland Clinic's Consult QD, 12/2021. 
• Other Cleveland Clinic's Consult QD News
• Crain's Cleveland Business
• Dr. Marc - FOX 8's New Day Cleveland - Morning Show, New Epilepsy Treatment

Selected Publications

View publications for Irene Wang, PhD
(Disclaimer: This search is powered by PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed is a third-party website with no affiliation with Cleveland Clinic.)

Books:

Anatomic Basis of Neurologic Diagnosis. Second Edition. Thieme. Cary D. Alberstone, Edward Benzel, Stephen E. Jones, Zhong Irene Wang, Michael Steinmetz. 2023.

Below are a selection of publications from Dr. Irene Wang and her lab.  Bold font indicates members of Dr. Wang’s group who contributed to authorship.

1. Su TY, Hu S, Wang X, Adler S, Wagstyl K, Ding Z, Choi JY, Sakaie K, Blümcke I, Murakami H, Jones SE, Najm I, Ma D, Wang ZI. Automated Surface-Based Detection of Focal Cortical Dysplasia Using MR Fingerprinting. Epilepsia 2025 Oct 9. doi: 10.1111/epi.18667. Online ahead of print.
2. Kochi R, Su TY, Punia V, Morris S, Murakami H, Wang X, Blümcke I, Jones SE, Najm I, Alexopoulos AV, Ma D, Wang ZI. Utility of MR fingerprinting in differentiating epileptogenic from non-epileptogenic cortical malformations. Journal of the Neurological Sciences. 2025 Oct 15:477:123651.
3. Ding Z, Morris SW, Hu S, Su TY, Choi JY, Blümcke I, Wang X, Sakaie K, Murakami H, Alexopoulos AV, Jones SE, Najm I, Ma D, Wang ZI. Automated Whole-Brain Focal Cortical Dysplasia Detection Using MR Fingerprinting with Deep Learning. Neurology. 2025 Jun 10;104(11):e213691.
4. Su TY, Choi JY, Hu S, Wang X, Blümcke I, Chiprean K, Krishnan B, Ding Z, Sakaie K, Murakami H, Alexopoulos AV, Najm I, Jones SE, Ma D, Wang ZI. Multiparametric Characterization of Focal Cortical Dysplasia Using 3D MR Fingerprinting. Ann Neurol. 2024 Nov;96(5):944-957. Nov 2024 Issue Cover Image. 
5. Ripart M, DeKraker J, Eriksson M, Piper R, Mo JJ, Su TY, Kochi R, Wang ZI, Winston GP, Clark C, D’Arco F, Mankad K, Khan A, Baldeweg T, Adler S, Wagstyl K. Automated and Interpretable Detection of Hippocampal Sclerosis in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: AID-HS. Ann Neurol. 2024 Nov 14;97(1):62-75. doi: 10.1002/ana.27089.
6. Josephson CB, Aronica E, Beniczky S, Boyce D, Cavalleri G, Denaxas S, French J, Jehi L, Koh H, Kwan P, Mitchell JW, Rampp S, Sadleir L, Sisodiya SM, Wang I, Wiebe S, Yasuda C, Youngerman B on behalf of the ILAE Big Data Commission. Big Data Research Is Everyone’s Research - Making Epilepsy Data Science Accessible to the Global Community: Report of the ILAE Big Data Commission. Epileptic Disord. 2024 Oct 24.
7. Ripart M, Spitzer H, Fawaz A, […], Tang Y, Wang S, Wang I, […], Iglesias JE, Adler S, Wagstyl K. Detection of Epileptogenic Focal Cortical Dysplasia Using Graph Neural Networks: A MELD Study. JAMA Neurol. Feb 24:e245406. 
8. Ding Z, Hu S, Su TY, Choi JY, Morris S, Wang X, Sakaie K, Murakami H, Huppertz HJ, Blümcke I, Jones SE, Najm I, Ma D, Wang ZI. Combining MR Fingerprinting with Voxel-Based Morphometric Analysis to Reduce False Positives for Focal Cortical Dysplasia Detection. Epilepsia. 2024 Jun;65(6):1631-1643.
9. Su TY, Tang Y, Choi JY, Hu S, Sakaie K, Murakami H, Jones SE, Blümcke I, Najm I, Ma D, Wang ZI. Evaluating Whole-brain Tissue Property Changes in MRI-negative Pharmacoresistant Focal Epilepsies using MR Fingerprinting. Epilepsia. 2023 Feb;64(2):430-442. 
10. Choi JY, Hu S, Su TY, Murakami H, Tang Y, Blümcke I, Najm I, Sakaie K, Jones SE, Griswold M, Wang ZI, Ma D. Normative Quantitative Relaxation Atlases for Characterization of Cortical Regions Using Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting. Cerebral Cortex. 2023 Mar 21;33(7):3562-3574. 
11. Tang Y, Su TY, Choi JY, Hu S, Wang X, Sakaie K, Murakami H, Alexopoulos A, Griswold M, Jones SE,  Najm I, Ma D, Wang ZI. Characterizing Thalamic and Basal Ganglia Nuclei in Medically Intractable Focal Epilepsy by MR Fingerprinting. Epilepsia. 2022 Aug;63(8):1998-2010. 
12. Tang Y, Blümcke I, Su TY, Choi JY, Krishnan B, Murakami H, Alexopoulos AV, Najm IM, Jones SE, Wang ZI. The Black Line Sign in Focal Cortical Dysplasia IIB: a 7T MRI and Electro-clinico-pathological Study. Neurology. 2022 Aug 9;99(6):e616-e626. 
13. Choi JY, Krishnan B, Hu S, Martinez D, Tang Y, Wang X, Sakaie K, Jones SE, Murakami H, Blümcke I, Najm I, Ma D, Wang ZI. Using MR Fingerprinting to Characterize Periventricular Nodular Heterotopias in Pharmacoresistant Epilepsy. Epilepsia. 2022 May;63(5):1225-1237. 
14. Spitzer H, Ripart M, Whitaker K, […], Tang Y, Wang S, […], Wang I, […], Baldeweg T, Adler S, Wagstyl K. Interpretable surface-based detection of focal cortical dysplasias: a MELD study. Brain. 2022 Nov 21;145(11):3859-3871. 
15. Holthausen H, Coras R, Tang Y, Bai L, Wang I, Pieper T, Kudernatsch M, Hartlieb T, Staudt M, Winkler P, Hofer W, Jabari S, Kobow K, Blumcke I. Multilobar unilateral hypoplasia with emphasis in the posterior quadrant and severe epilepsy in children with Focal Cortical Dysplasia ILAE Type 1A. Epilepsia. 2022 Jan;63(1):42-60. 
16. Tang Y, Choi JY, Alexopoulos AV, Murakami H, Daifu-Kobayashi M, Zhou Q, Najm I, Jones SE, Wang ZI. Individual Localization Value of Resting-state Functional MRI in Epilepsy Presurgical Evaluation: a Combined Study with Stereo-EEG. Clinical Neurophysiology. 2021 Aug 30;S1388-2457(21)00707-0. Dec 2021 Issue Cover Image. 
17. Jin L, Choi JY, Bulacio JC, Alexopoulos AV, Burgess RC, Murakami H, Bingaman W, Najm IM, Wang ZI. Multimodal Image Integration for Epilepsy Presurgical Evaluation: A Clinical Workflow. Frontiers in Neurology. 2021 Aug 4;12:709400. 
18. Krishnan B, Tousseyn S, Nayak CS, Aung T, Kheder A, Wang ZI, Wu G, Gonzalez-Martinez J, Nair D, Burgess R, Iasemidis L, Najm I, Bulacio J, Alexopoulos AV. Neurovascular networks in epilepsy: Correlating ictal blood perfusion with intracranial electrophysiology. Neuroimage. 2021 Feb 10;231:117838. May 2021 Issue Cover Image.
19. Bernasconi N, Wang I. Emerging Trends in Neuroimaging of Epilepsy. Epilepsy Currents. 2021 Mar;21(2):79-82. 
20. Opheim G, van der Kolk A, Bloch KM, […], Wang I, […], Xue R, Guerrini R, Guye M. 7T Epilepsy Task Force consensus recommendations on the use of 7T in clinical practice. Neurology. 2021 Feb 16;96(7):327-341. 
21. Kaestner E, Reyes A, Chen A, Rao J, Macari, AC, Choi JY, Qiu D, Hewitt K, Wang ZI, Drane DL, Hermann B, Busch RM, Punia V, McDonald CR, for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Atrophy and Cognitive Profiles in Older Adults with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Are Similar to Mild Cognitive Impairment. Brain. 2021 Feb 12;144(1):236-250. 
22. Wang I, Oh S, Blümcke I, Coras R, Krishnan B, Kim S, McBride A, Grinenko O, Lin Y, Overmyer M, Aung TT, Lowe M, Larvie M, Alexopoulos AV, Bingaman W, Gonzalez-Martinez JA, Najm I, Jones SE. Value of 7T MRI and Post-processing in Patients with Nonlesional 3T MRI Undergoing Epilepsy Presurgical Evaluation. Epilepsia. 2020 Nov;61(11):2509-2520. Highlighted on Nature Reviews Neurology Oct 2020. 
23. Wang I, Bernasconi A, Bernhardt B, Blumenfeld H, Cendes F, Chinvarun Y, Jackson G, Morgan V, Rampp S, Vaudano AE, Federico P. MRI Essentials in Epileptology: A Review from the ILAE Imaging Taskforce. Epileptic Disorders. 2020 Aug 1;22(4):421-437. 
24. Wang S, Wang ZI*, Tang Y, Alexopoulos AV, Chen C, Katagiri M, Aung T, Najm I, Ding M, Wang S, Chauvel P. Localization Value of Subclinical Seizures on Scalp Video-EEG in Epilepsy Presurgical Evaluation. Epilepsia. 2019 Dec;60(12):2477-2485. Highlighted on Epilepsy Currents 2020 March/April issue. 
25. Wang W, Lin Y, Wang S, Jones SE, Prayson RA, Moosa NVA, McBride A, Gonzalez-Martinez JA, Bingaman W, Najm IM, Alexopoulos AV, the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics Study, Wang ZI. Voxel-Based Morphometric MRI Postprocessing in Nonlesional Pediatric Epilepsy Patients Using Pediatric Normal Databases. European Journal of Neurology. 2019 Jul;26(7):969-e71.  
26. Ma D, Jones SE, Deshmane A, Sakaie K, Pierre E, Larvie M, McGivney D, Blümcke I, Krishnan B, Lowe M, Gulani V, Najm I, Griswold M, Wang ZI. Development of High-resolution 3D MR Fingerprinting for Detection and Characterization of Epileptic Lesions. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 2019 May;49(5):1333-1346. May 2019 Issue Cover Image. Top 10% most downloaded article on MR fingerprinting, JMRI 2020. 
27. Wang S, Aung T, Chen C, Katagiri M, Jones SE, Prayson RA, Krishnan B, Gonzalez-Martinez JA, Burgess RC, Najm IM, Alexopoulos AV, Wang S, Ding M, Wang ZI. Multimodal Non-invasive Evaluation in MRI-negative Operculo-insular Epilepsy. Journal of Neurosurgery. 2019 Apr 12:1-11. 
28. Lin Y, Fang YH, Wu G, Jones SE, Prayson RA, Moosa ANV, Overmyer M, Bena J, Larvie M, Bingaman W, Gonzalez-Martinez, JA, Najm IM, Alexopoulos AV, Wang ZI. Quantitative-PET-guided MRI Post-processing in MRI-negative Epilepsies. Epilepsia. 2018 Aug;59(8):1583-1594. 
29. Jin B, Krishnan B, Adler S, Wagstyl K, Hu W, Jones SE, Najm I, Alexopoulos AV, Zhang K, Zhang J, Ding M, Wang S, the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics Study, Wang ZI. Automated Detection of Focal Cortical Dysplasia Type II with Surface-based MRI Post-processing and Machine Learning. Epilepsia. 2018 May;59(5):982-992. 
30. Grinenko O, Li J, Mosher JC, Wang ZI, Bulacio JC, Gonzalez-Martinez JA, Nair D, Najm I, Leahy RM, Chauvel P. A Fingerprint of the Epileptogenic Zone in Human Epilepsies. Brain. 2018; 141(1):117-131. 
31. Tousseyn S, Krishnan B, Wang ZI, Wongwiangjunt S, Nayak CS, Mosher JC, Wu G, Van Paesschen W, Leahy RM, Gonzalez-Martinez J, Bulacio J, Najm I, Alexopoulos A, Nair D. Connectivity in ictal SPECT perfusion: a cortico-cortical evoked potential study. Brain. 2017; 140(7):1872-1884. July 2017 Issue Editor’s Choice and Cover Image.
32. Wang ZI, Krishnan B, Shattuck DW, Leahy RM, Moosa A NV, Wyllie E, Burgess RC, Al-Sharif NB, Joshi AA, Alexopoulos AV, Mosher JC, Udayasankar U, the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics Study, Jones SE. Automated MRI Volumetric Analysis in Epilepsy Patients with Rasmussen's Syndrome. American Journal of Neuroradiology. 2016 Dec;37(12):2348-2355. 
33. Murakami H, Wang ZI*, Marashly A, Krishnan B, Prayson RA, Kakisaka Y, Mosher JC, Bulacio J, Gonzalez-Martinez JA, Bingaman WE, Najm IM, Burgess RC, Alexopoulos, AV. Correlating Magnetoencephalography to Stereotactic EEG in Patients Undergoing Epilepsy Surgery. Brain. 2016 139 (11): 2935-2947. Nov 2016 Issue Cover Image. Highlighted on Epilepsy Currents 2017 March/April issue as “New and Noteworthy Current Literature”. 
34. Wang ZI, Suwanpakdee P, Jones SE, Jaisani Z, Ahsan NV Moosa, Najm IM, von Podewils F, Burgess RC, Krishnan B, Prayson RA, Gonzalez-Martinez JA, Bingaman W, Alexopoulos AV. Re-review of MRI with Post-processing in Nonlesional Patients in whom Epilepsy Surgery has Failed. Journal of Neurology.2016 Sep;263(9):1736-45. 
35. Wang ZI, Jones SE, Jaisani Z, Najm IM, Prayson RA, Burgess RC, Krishnan B, Ristic A, Wong CH, Bingaman W, Gonzalez-Martinez JA, Alexopoulos AV. Voxel-based Morphometric MRI Post-processing in MRI-negative Epilepsies. Annals of Neurology. 2015 Jun;77(6):1060-75. Highlighted on Epilepsy Currents 2016 March/April issue. 
36. Wang ZI, Alexopoulos AV, Jones SE, Ristic A, Wong C, Schneider F, Kakisaka Y, Wang S, Prayson R, Najm IM, Burgess RC. Linking MRI Post-processing with Magnetic Source Imaging in MRI-negative Epilepsy. Annals of Neurology. 2014 May;75(5):759-70. 
37. Wang ZI, Ristic A, Wong C, Jones SE, Gonzalez-Martinez JA, Najm IM, Alexopoulos AV. Neuroimaging Characteristics of MRI-negative Orbitofrontal Epilepsy with Focus on Voxel-based Morphometric MRI Post-processing. Epilepsia. 2013 Dec;54(12):2195-203. 
38. Wang ZI, Alexopoulos AV, Jones SE, Jaisani Z, Najm IM, Prayson RA. Pathological Substrates Underlying Magnetic-resonance-imaging-negative Epilepsy. Modern Pathology. 2013 Aug;26(8):1051-8.  
39. Wang ZI, Jin K, Kakisaka Y, Mosher JC, Bingaman W, Kotagal P, Burgess RC, Najm IM, Alexopoulos AV. Imag(in)ing seizure propagation: MEG-guided interpretation of epileptic activity from a deep source. Human Brain Mapping. 2012 Dec;33(12):2797-801. December 2012 Cover Page of Human Brain Mapping.