Preclinical imaging provides an important translational bridge between the basic science lab and the clinic. Imaging findings in human patients can drive basic science experiments, and basic science can help explain imaging findings. My work is centered on this bridge, as I am primarily interested in preclinical imaging, but in the context of unmet needs in human imaging.
I have utilized preclinical imaging to answer a variety of questions in psychiatry, oncology and nephrology, among others, since my graduate work. My early research involved examining the brain and investigating the effects of antipsychotic medications on brain composition and neurochemistry. Eventually, I transitioned to examining liver metabolism using proton, sodium, phosphorus and carbon imaging or spectroscopy with the aim of using these magnetic resonance methods to quantify liver fibrosis and stage liver disease.
In addition to pursuing my own research, I serve as the director of the In Vivo Microimaging Laboratory. I support several researchers who use imaging in their investigations of various diseases, including multiple sclerosis, neurofibromatosis, cardiac dysfunction, kidney and liver disease and genetic disorders.
BS: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 1989.
MA: Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 1991.
PhD: University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Little Rock, AR, 1998.
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy of drug effects; magnetic resonance spectroscopy of metabolic disease; multinuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; pulse sequence design
Radiology
Radiology, Imaging, Fibrosis
Early postnatal microglial ablation in the Ccdc39 mouse model reveals adverse effects on brain development and in neonatal hydrocephalus. Fluids and Barriers of the CNS. 2023; 20:42.
Abstract P2008.1: Association Of Myocardial Stiffening With Impaired Relaxation In A Diabetic Murine Model Of Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction. Circulation Research. 2023; 133.
Therapeutic Targeting of the GSK3β-CUGBP1 Pathway in Myotonic Dystrophy. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2023; 24.
Short-term fasting lowers glucagon levels under euglycemic and hypoglycemic conditions in healthy humans. JCI insight. 2023; 8.
Upregulation of acid ceramidase contributes to tumor progression in tuberous sclerosis complex. JCI insight. 2023; 8.
Diphtheria toxin induced but not CSF1R inhibitor mediated microglia ablation model leads to the loss of CSF/ventricular spaces in vivo that is independent of cytokine upregulation. Journal of Neuroinflammation. 2022; 19:3.
Editorial for "Hepatic Iron Quantification Using a Free-Breathing 3D Radial Gradient Echo Technique and Validation with a 2D Biopsy-Calibrated R2* Relaxometry Method ". Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 2022; 55:1417-1418.
Creatine transporter deficiency impairs stress adaptation and brain energetics homeostasis. JCI insight. 2021; 6.
MRI Measures of Murine Liver Fibrosis. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 2021; 54:739-749.
An image registration framework to estimate 3D myocardial strains from cine cardiac MRI in mice. . 2021.