Brenda Bartnik Olson, PhD is an Associate Professor of Radiology and Basic Sciences at Loma Linda University Medical Center. She serves as the Co-Director of Basic Science Research for the Department of Radiology. Her preclinical research focuses on alternative energy substrates to ameliorate metabolic and dysfunction following traumatic brain injury, with her clinical translation research studies incorporating multiparametric approaches to evaluate MR imaging and spectroscopy biomarkers of outcome and treatment response.

Dr Bartnik Olson has been an active member of the National Neurotrauma Society since 2002 and was awarded the WiNTR award twice, as a PhD candidate and as a post-doctoral fellow. She received her doctorate in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Saskatchewan followed by post-doctoral training at UCLA under the guidance of Dr. David Hovda, studying traumatic brain injury induced alterations in glucose metabolism.