Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI)

What Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI) does

Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI) is a nonprofit academic research laboratory within the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, founded in the 1990s and originally established at Washington University School of Medicine before relocating to USC's Stevens Hall of Neuroimaging. LONI operates the Image and Data Archive (IDA), a secure neuroimaging data repository holding more than 4 petabytes of brain imaging data and used by more than 150 organizations globally, and has contributed to over 4,000 scientific publications. The laboratory also maintains the LONI Pipeline, a graphical workflow application for distributed neuroimaging data analysis, and a curated library of human, animal, and disease-specific brain atlases used as reference frameworks in neuroscience research. LONI also operates premiere imaging facilities including Siemens Magnetom Prisma 3T and Magnetom Terra 7T MRI scanners, a high-performance data center, and a Scientific Visualization Group producing 3D brain maps and animations.

LONI's business model is structured around federal grant funding rather than commercial revenue. The laboratory is supported primarily by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) providing a P41 Biomedical Technology Resource Center award. All software tools, brain atlases, and data archive access are provided at no cost for non-commercial, IRB-approved research, with commercial use requiring prior written permission. The product and research portfolio spans image and data management (IDA), workflow automation (LONI Pipeline), anatomical reference content (brain atlases), imaging infrastructure (MRI 3T/7T), educational offerings (the NIIN M.S. program and LONI Instructional Web), and specialized tools (jViewbox, BrainSuite, LOVE, AIR, BSE, MultiTracer, Debabeler, DIRAC, Distributed Pipeline Server). LONI's customer base is the global academic neuroscience research community, served through self-serve web distribution, research publications, scientific conferences, training workshops, and newsletter channels, with strategic partnerships spanning Monash University, IMT Lucca, UNAM, the Cuban Neuroscience Center, and the ENIGMA Consortium.

In 2024 LONI extended its research scope through an AI-driven initiative with the ENIGMA Consortium applying machine learning to brain scans for predicting brain stimulation treatment response in depression, and through a pioneering Alzheimer's disease study targeting MENA populations in California. The laboratory continues to function as a federally funded biomedical technology resource center, with its competitive position anchored by the scale of its data archive, the breadth of its multi-format neuroimaging software integrations, and its position within USC's research and clinical infrastructure.

Name

Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI)

Legal name

Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI)

Website

https://loni.usc.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

LONI is a nonprofit academic neuroimaging research laboratory at USC that operates the Image and Data Archive (IDA), LONI Pipeline workflow software, and a curated brain atlas library for the global academic neuroscience research community, funded primarily by NIH grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Neuroimaging Informatics Software

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Vendor Neutral Archive (VNA) & Enterprise Imaging Repositories (HLACALAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Universal Viewers & Enterprise Imaging Access (Zero-footprint/Diagnostic) (HLACALAD)

Keywords

• Neuroimaging informatics
• Brain mapping software
• Medical image archiving
• Neuroimaging data analytics
• Research pipeline workflows

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government Research Grants: Primary funding from federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), and other NIH institutes. P41 Biomedical Technology Resource Center award from NIBIB.
2. Non-Commercial Research Access: Software, atlases, and data archive services are provided free of charge for non-commercial, IRB-approved research purposes

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

LONI is a USC-based research laboratory that develops and operates the Image and Data Archive (IDA), the LONI Pipeline processing environment, and a suite of Brain Atlases for managing and analyzing large-scale neuroimaging datasets. It also provides an MRI Imaging Facility used to acquire high-field structural and functional brain images for multi-site research consortia. Its products are offered primarily to academic, government, and clinical investigators engaged in collaborative neuroscience research.

Product overview

Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI) operates as a neuroimaging research institute offering a comprehensive portfolio of products and services centered on brain imaging data management and analysis. The core offerings include the Image and Data Archive (IDA), a secure platform for archiving and sharing neuroscience data, and the LONI Pipeline, a graphical workflow application for neuroimaging data analysis. These are complemented by a collection of brain atlases (human, animal, and disease-specific), specialized software tools (jViewbox, BrainSuite, LOVE, AIR, BSE, MultiTracer, Debabeler, DIRAC), and research facilities including MRI imaging centers (3T and 7T scanners), a data center with petabyte-scale storage, and a visualization environment (DIVE). The institute also provides educational programs through the NIIN M.S. Program and online training resources. The product ecosystem enables researchers to acquire, process, analyze, visualize, and share neuroimaging data across global collaborations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Image and Data Archive (IDA) A secure, web-based data management system that allows multi-site research consortia to upload, store, share, and analyze large-scale biomedical and neuroimaging imaging datasets.
• LONI Pipeline A workflow environment that enables researchers to compose, execute, and share neuroimaging processing pipelines across distributed computing resources for reproducible analysis.
• Brain Atlases A collection of standardized brain atlas resources used for structural and functional brain mapping across neuroscience research studies.
• MRI Imaging Facility A high-field MRI imaging acquisition facility used to acquire structural and functional brain images for research studies.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 4,000 scientific articles have been produced using the IDA infrastructure
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration15 records

AI capability11 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Monash UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership includes ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash Biomedical Imaging, and the Monash Central Clinical School's Clinical Imaging Department. Located in Melbourne, Australia.
• IMT School for Advanced Studies LuccacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublic research center and graduate school in Lucca, Italy. Their Innovation Center Lab - Neuroscience analyzes neurological basis of consumer behavior and uses neurobiological parameters for digital learning research.
• Institute of Neurobiology, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, a large public research university established in 1993. Multidisciplinary research employs developmental, genetic, epigenetic and multi-level approaches to neuroscience.
• Cuban Neuroscience Center (CNEURO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounded in 1969 in Havana, Cuba. One of the first groups to use computers to analyze electrical activity in the brain. Focuses on development of methods for medical diagnosis and detection, evaluation and prevention of nervous system diseases.
• ENIGMA ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal consortium uniting experts in artificial intelligence, psychiatry, and neuroimaging. Applies AI to brain scans for predicting treatment responses in depression. First global analysis for brain stimulation optimization.
• USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLONI is housed within the Stevens INI at USC. The institute applies innovative imaging and information technologies to study the brain, collecting and analyzing imaging, genetics, clinical, and behavioral data.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• OpenNeuro: OpenNeuro is a free platform for sharing and analyzing neuroimaging data (MRI, PET, MEG, EEG) hosted by Stanford. It directly competes with LONI's IDA by offering a community-governed BIDS-standard archive for neuroscience research data.
• XNAT: XNAT is an open-source neuroimaging data management platform widely used in academic research institutions for archiving, processing, and sharing imaging data. It directly competes with LONI's IDA in the neuroimaging data archive category, offering similar DICOM/NIfTI support and integration with research workflows.
• FSL (FMRIB Software Library): FSL is a comprehensive library of analysis tools for FMRI, MRI, and DTI brain imaging data developed at Oxford. It serves the same neuroscience research community as LONI Pipeline and competes for adoption as the primary neuroimaging analysis workflow tool.
• FreeSurfer: FreeSurfer is an open-source neuroimaging analysis toolkit for processing brain MRI data, developed at MGH/Harvard. It competes with LONI Pipeline's brain analysis tools and shares the same academic neuroimaging researcher customer base.
• AFNI (Analysis of Functional NeuroImages): AFNI is an NIH-funded open-source software package for processing and analyzing functional MRI and other neuroimaging modalities. It directly competes with LONI Pipeline for neuroimaging analysis workflows among academic researchers.
• NIMH Data Archive (NDA): The NIMH Data Archive is a federal data repository for human subjects data from NIH-funded research, including neuroimaging. It competes with LONI's IDA for large-scale neuroscience data archive adoption among NIH-funded investigators and shares NDAR integration patterns.
• BrainVoyager: BrainVoyager is a neuroimaging analysis software package for MRI, fMRI, DTI, and EEG data with both academic and commercial versions. It competes with LONI Pipeline for neuroimaging analysis adoption among neuroscience researchers.

Broad incumbents

• Siemens Healthineers: Siemens Healthineers manufactures the Magnetom Prisma 3T and Magnetom Terra 7T MRI scanners housed at LONI. While primarily a medical imaging equipment vendor, Siemens also provides clinical imaging informatics solutions (PACS/VNA) that overlap with LONI's imaging informatics work.

Emerging players

• Flywheel: Flywheel is a commercial cloud-based neuroimaging data management and analysis platform serving academic and clinical research. It overlaps with LONI's IDA in data archiving and with LONI Pipeline in workflow processing, representing a cloud-native commercial alternative.
• BrainMap: BrainMap is an online database of published functional neuroimaging experiments with coordinate-based meta-analysis tools. It overlaps with LONI's neuroscience data sharing mission by providing structured access to functional neuroimaging literature and results.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/lonipipeline
• Facebookfacebook.com/lonipipeline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/laboratory-of-neuro-imaging-loni-

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI)