Research

Alzheimer's Disease

We are researching alterations in iron that may be causative in the disorder. In particular, we have found abnormal iron accumulation associated with microglia in AD. We are studying this with an array of techniques, including:

  • Ultra-high resolution specimen MRI
  • X-ray imaging of iron
  • Coregistered histology
  • Electron microscopy
  • 7T MR in living humans
  • PET-MR in living humans
  • Exosomal analyses

Traumatic Brain Injury

We are interested in understanding the mechanisms behind mild traumatic brain injury. Such brain injury usually has no MRI abnormalities. We are teaming with the biomechanics team of David Camarillo to uncover new biomarkers of mild brain injury using novel, advanced MRI techniques.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome, which carries many similarities to Long-COVID, is a devastating disorder with relentless fatigue, with no known effective treatment, and no understanding of the underlying pathologies. We are working to discover alterations in the brain that may underly fatigue and could be amenable to future therapies using advanced MRI coupled with neurobehavioral and blood analyses.

Microstructure

We are interested in using state of the art techniques to image brain microstructure, both to determine normal anatomy, and to discern alterations in the above diseases. These include techniques such as X-ray tensor tomography to examine myelin, scattered light imaging to look at crossing fibers, as well as QSM and DTI to examine in vivo correlates. We are also particularly interested in the intricate microstructure of the hippocampus, the anatomical center of declarative memory, particularly affected in AD.