Michael Funke, MD, PhD

Biography

Michael E. Funke, MD, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child & Adolescent Neurology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. He also serves as medical director of Magnetic Source Imaging (MSI) at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Dr. Funke earned his MD (1988) and PhD in medicine (1997) from Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena, Germany, and completed fellowship training in clinical magnetoencephalography (MEG) at the University of Utah (1998–2000). His academic career has included leadership roles in MEG/MSI programs at the University of Utah and UTHealth Houston.

Dr. Funke’s clinical work centers on MEG/MSI and EEG for noninvasive brain assessment, with a primary emphasis on presurgical evaluation of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. His work integrates MEG/MSI findings with other diagnostic data used in epilepsy surgery planning and multidisciplinary care. Dr. Funke’s research applies electrophysiology methods to clinical questions in epilepsy, cognitive disorders, and spaceflight neurophysiology. His work includes studies on functional network measures derived from MEG in epilepsy and NIH-supported projects on electrophysiology-based digital biomarkers, including vascular cognitive decline after minor stroke and development of low-cost ambulatory approaches for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

He also participates in spaceflight neurophysiology collaborations that examine EEG signal changes in EEG measures associated with microgravity and other factors of the spaceflight environment.

Education is a major component of Dr. Funke’s departmental role, with two distinct training avenues in clinical MEG:

• Clinical MEG Fellowship Program (UTHealth Houston): Since 2013, Dr. Funke has directed the UTHealth Houston Clinical MEG Fellowship Program, providing structured training that includes supervised clinical case review and interpretation, instruction in MEG acquisition and analysis workflows, and regular teaching sessions. The clinical MEG fellowship program is listed on the ACGME roster of non-standard fellowships, initiated in 2014 and renewed until 2030.
• Clinical MEG Workforce Training Program (intensive course): Separate from the fellowship, Dr. Funke leads a workforce training pathway intended for physicians seeking focused clinical MEG preparation when a full-year fellowship is not feasible. The program uses a clinical immersion model with defined competencies and supervised interpretation experience.
  Training includes MEG/EEG reporting, presurgical functional mapping, artifact recognition, quality control, participation in epilepsy conferences, and practical topics related to MEG laboratory operations.

Dr. Funke is a founding member of the American Clinical MEG Society (ACMEGS) and has served multiple terms as its president. He is also a founding member and past officer of the International Society for the Advancement of Clinical MEG (ISACM). He contributes to continuing education in clinical MEG through course instruction and invited lectures.