Research Areas - (3) Molecular MRI Neuroimaging Sensors

Full path: Biology > Biophysics > Quantum Biology / Biosensing > Molecular MRI Neuroimaging Sensors

Department(s)/lab(s): Biological Engineering | Jasanoff Lab @ MIT
Summary:

PREFERRED. Jasanoff's lab develops genetically encoded and nanoparticle/small-molecule MRI sensors (for calcium, dopamine, serotonin, and other neurochemical targets) that convert molecular binding events into brain-wide, noninvasive MRI contrast changes, effectively giving whole-brain 'molecular fMRI' with a growing palette of chemically distinct reporters; recent work includes liposomal nanoprobes actuated by engineered water channels for higher-sensitivity detection.

Department(s)/lab(s): Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences | C. Liu MRI Physics Lab @ UCB
Summary:

Liu develops quantitative susceptibility mapping and other advanced magnetic-field-sensitive MRI acquisition and reconstruction methods to noninvasively map brain iron, myelin, and microstructure with a precision that approaches magnetometric sensing of tissue magnetic properties.

Department(s)/lab(s): Chemistry | Meade Group @ Northwestern
Summary:

Meade designs bioinorganic coordination complexes and nanoparticle- and genetically-encoded contrast agents that act as activatable molecular MRI sensors, reporting on enzyme activity, gene expression, and neurochemistry in living tissue, alongside electronic biosensors and transcription-factor inhibitors for molecular imaging and diagnostics.