JOSEPHEEN DE ASIS-CRUZ, M.D., PH.D. Research Director for Imaging and Analytics
Josepheen De Asis-Cruz, M.D., Ph.D., is Research Director for Imaging and Analytics, and she joined the Developing Brain Institute in September 2014. Dr. De Asis-Cruz’s research focuses on characterizing neurodevelopment in fetuses and neonates using resting state functional MRI (fMRI). She joined the Institute after finishing her Ph.D. at Baylor College of Medicine where she studied neural markers of impaired social cognition in autism spectrum disorders using fMRI. Prior to her Ph.D., she obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology and medical degree at the University of the Philippines.
Address: 111 Michigan Ave. NW; Washington, D.C., 20010
Email: [email protected]
Department: MRI Lab
Recent publications & presentations
2024 | November
Cook KM, De Asis-Cruz J, Sitrin C, Barnett SD, Krishnamurthy D, Limperopoulos C. Greater Neighborhood Disadvantage Is Associated with Alterations in Fetal Functional Brain Network Structure. The Journal of Pediatrics. 2024 Nov;274:114201. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114201. Epub 2024 Jul 18. PMID: 39032768; PMCID: PMC11499008
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39032768/
2024 | September
Jacobwitz M, Kapse K, Ngwa J, De Asis-Cruz J, Wu Y, Govindan R, Donofrio MT, Wessel DL, du Plessis AJ, Limperopoulos C, Andescavage A. “In-Vivo Placental Volumes and Placental Growth Trajectories are Abnormal in Fetuses with Congenital Heart Disease.” International Federation of Placental Associations 2024 Conference. Montreal, Quebec. September 2024. (NIH travel award)
2024 | July
De Asis-Cruz J, Kalsi IA, Kapse K, Vezina G, Donofrio MT, Limperopoulos C. Decreased gray matter density in subcortical structures in newborns with complex congenital heart disease. NeoHeart 2024. (One of the top three conference abstracts.) New York, NY. July 2024.
2024 | April
Damera SR, De Asis-Cruz J, Cook KM, Kapse K, Spoehr E, Murnick J, Basu S, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. Regional homogeneity as a marker of sensory cortex dysmaturity in preterm infants. iScience. 2024 Apr 4;27(5):109662. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109662. PMID: 38665205; PMCID: PMC11043889
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38665205/
Chirumamilla VC, Hitchings L, Mulkey SB, Anwar T, Baker R, Maxwell L, De Asis Cruz J, Kapse K, Limperopoulos C, du Plessis AJ, Govindan RB. Communications among Rich-club brain regions in term low-risk newborn EEG sources. Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024.
Cook KM, De Asis-Cruz J, Andescavage N, Saulino P, Basu SK, du Plessis AJ, Limperopoulos C. Greater exposure to opioid pain medications in the NICU is associated with hyperconnectivity of the thalamus and cerebellum in infants born prematurely. Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024.
Kim JH, De Asis-Cruz J, Andescavage NN, du Plessis A, Limperopoulos C. Disrupted functional brain networks in neonates with congenital heart disease. Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024.
Kim JH, De Asis-Cruz J, Limperopoulos C. Improving reliability of fetal brain signatures using censoring high-motion frames in fetal functional MRI. Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024.
Jacobwitz M, Kapse K, Ngwa J, De Asis-Cruz J, Govindan R, Donofrio MT, Wessel D, du Plessis A, Limperopoulos C, Andescavage N. In-vivo placental volumes and placental growth trajectories are abnormal in fetuses with Congenital Heart Disease. Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024.
Damera S, De Asis-Cruz J, Cook KM, Kapse K, Spoehr E, Basu SK, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. Regional homogeneity tracks sensory cortex dysmaturity and predicts future risk of autism in preterm infants. Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024.
Cruz J, Kim JH, Cook KM, Teramoto H, Mastracchio CE, Kapse KJ, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. Associations between fetal hippocampal functional connectivity and maternal psychopathology. Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024.
Cruz JD, Cook KM, Kim JH, Kasper ML, Saulino P, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. Fetal cortical thickness and structural brain connectivity changes associated with in utero exposure to SSRIs. Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024.
2024 | February
Wu Y, De Asis-Cruz J, Limperopoulos C. Brain structural and functional outcomes in the offspring of women experiencing psychological distress during pregnancy. Mol Psychiatry. 2024 Feb 28. doi: 10.1038/s41380-024-02449-0. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38418579
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38418579/
Chirumamilla VC, Hitchings L, Mulkey SB, Anwar T, Baker R, Larry Maxwell G, De Asis-Cruz J, Kapse K, Limperopoulos C, du Plessis A, Govindan RB. Association of brain functional connectivity with neurodevelopmental outcomes in healthy full-term newborns. Clin Neurophysiol. 2024 Feb 15;160:68-74. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2024.02.009. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38412745
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38412745/
2023 | November
Cook KM, De Asis-Cruz J, Kim JH, Basu SK, Andescavage N, Murnick J, Spoehr E, Liggett M, du Plessis AJ, Limperopoulos C. Experience of early-life pain in premature infants is associated with atypical cerebellar development and later neurodevelopmental deficits. BMC Med. 2023 Nov 14;21(1):435. doi: 10.1186/s12916-023-03141-w. PMID: 37957651
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37957651/
2023 | October
De Asis-Cruz J, Andescavage N, Donofrio MT, Vezina G, Wessel D, du Plessis A, Limperopoulos C. Disrupted Functional Brain Connectome in the Fetus With Congenital Heart Disease. Circ Res. 2023 Oct 12. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.123.323276. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37823309
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37823309/
2023 | May
De Asis-Cruz J, Limperopoulos C. Harnessing the power of advanced fetal neuroimaging to understand in utero footprints for later neuropsychiatric disorders. Biol Psychiatry. 2023 May 15;93(10):867-879. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.11.019. Epub 2022 Dec 5. PMID: 36804195
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36804195/
Kim JH, De Asis-Cruz J, Krishnamurthy D, Limperopoulos C. Toward a more informative representation of the fetal-neonatal brain connectome using variational autoencoder. Elife. 2023 May 15;12:e80878. doi: 10.7554/eLife.80878. PMID: 37184067; PMCID: PMC10241511.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37184067/
2023 | April
Kim JH, De Asis-Cruz J, Kapse K, Limperopoulos C. Systematic evaluation of head motion on resting-state functional connectivity MRI in the neonate. Hum Brain Mapp. 2023 Apr 1;44(5):1934-1948. doi: 10.1002/hbm.26183. Epub 2022 Dec 28. PMID: 36576333; PMCID: PMC9980896.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36576333/
2023 | March
Chirumamilla VC, Hitchings L, Mulkey SB, Anwar T, Baker R, Larry Maxwell G, De Asis-Cruz J, Kapse K, Limperopoulos C, du Plessis A, Govindan RB. Functional brain network properties of healthy full-term newborns quantified by scalp and source-reconstructed EEG. Clin Neurophysiol. 2023 Mar;147:72-80. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2023.01.005. Epub 2023 Jan 23. PMID: 36731349; PMCID: PMC9975070
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36731349/
2023 | February
Kim JH, De Asis-Cruz J, Cook KM, Limperopoulos C. Gestational age-related changes in the fetal functional connectome: in utero evidence for the global signal. Cereb Cortex. 2023 Feb 20;33(5):2302-2314. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhac209. PMID: 35641159; PMCID: PMC9977380
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35641159/
2022
Largent A, De Asis-Cruz J, Kapse K, Barnett SD, Murnick J, Basu S, Andersen N, Norman S, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. Automatic brain segmentation in preterm infants with post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus using 3D Bayesian U-Net. Hum Brain Mapp. 2022 Apr 15;43(6):1895-1916. doi: 10.1002/hbm.25762. Epub 2022 Jan 13. PMID: 35023255; PMCID: PMC8933325
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35023255/