We seek to clinically translate our engineering discoveries, and are motivated by the need for imaging biomarkers to help patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders.

 

Our innovations include novel MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and PET (positron emission tomography) methods. We combine new scanning paradigms with biophysical models of brain physiology and image reconstructions to measure biomarkers that were previously not available.

The imaging biomarkers we investigate include cerebral blood flow, brain oxygenation, and cerebrovascular reactivity - how the brain's vessels respond to a "stress test". We also study the blood-brain barrier and its breakdown in neurological diseases, which alters how tracers and neuroinflammatory agents pass into the brain.


Research Areas