Development and validation of non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging techniques

Neurodegenerative and mental health disorders represent an enormous disease burden worldwide. Many of these conditions are chronic and incurable, and their debilitating effects may continue for years or decades. The lack of effective treatments and unsuccessful clinical trials for new therapies highlight the need to take a different approach to identify targets for treatment. Recent research suggests that inflammation in the brain may play a role in neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, depression, stroke, and multiple sclerosis. However, at this time, there are no accepted methods to reliably measure these inflammatory processes in patients. Therefore, this project aims to develop and validate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tools for measuring inflammation in the human brain in different neurological conditions.
Jo-Lin

Principal Investigator:  Joanne Lin

Contact email: joanne.lin@auckland.ac.nz

Collaborators: Associate Professor Suresh Muthukumaraswamy (School of Pharmacy, FMHS, UoA); Dr Nicholas Hoeh (Psychological Medicine, FMHS, UoA); Dr Frederik Sundram (Psychological Medicine, FMHS, UoA); Dr Scott Graham (Molecular Medicine and Pathology, FMHS, UoA); Dr Alana Cavadino (Population Health, FMHS, UoA)

Status: Completed

Funding: Neurological Foundation of New Zealand, Maurice and Phyllis Paykel Trust, Oakley Mental Health Research Foundation, New Zealand Pharmacy Education and Research Foundation

Publications:  Plank, JR., Morgan, C., Sundram, F., Plank, LD., Hoeh, N., Ahn, S.,  Muthukumaraswamy, S., Lin, JC. (2022) Brain temperature as an indicator of neuroinflammation induced by typhoid vaccine: Assessment using whole-brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a randomised crossover study. Neuroimage: Clinical; 35:103053 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103053