Lucia Maria Vaina of Cambridge passed away unexpectedly on July 25, 2025, at the age of 78.
Lucia was a Professor Emerita of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, where she also served as a Research Professor of Neurology in the School of Medicine and a core faculty member of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience.
An internationally respected scientist, Dr. Vaina dedicated her career to advancing computational visual neuroscience and neuroimaging. Her research explored the neuronal mechanisms of spatial representation, visual motion perception, and perception-action relationships, using functional MRI, MEG, psychophysics, and computational modeling. She also made significant contributions to functional plasticity, learning, and neurorecovery after brain injury, combining psychophysical methods, neuroimaging, and neuronal network modeling.
In addition to her experimental work, Dr. Vaina was a pioneer in theoretical engineering and neuroinformatics, developing computational tools to analyze large-scale fMRI and MEG datasets and uncover complex patterns in brain activity. Over her prolific career, she published nearly 180 peer-reviewed articles, making lasting contributions to the fields of visual neuroscience and neuroimaging.
She was the devoted wife of the late David Marr, a renowned neuroscientist in computational vision, and is survived by many cherished colleagues, students, and friends whose lives she deeply influenced.
A graveside service will be held on Friday, August 1, 2025, at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, at 11:00 am.
Those wishing to attend are kindly asked to meet just inside the main gate of the cemetery at 10:45 am.