Description: Design of genetically encoded proteins, small molecules and nanoparticle probes that convert binding of a neurochemical target into a change in MRI contrast, enabling whole-brain molecular imaging.
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.
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.