SPH Research Round - Prof Henk JMM Mutsaerts & Dr Jan Petr

Date:

Thurs, 9 May 2024

Time:

11am-12pm [Singapore [GMT +8]

Location:

Seminar Room 2, Level 8
Tahir Foundation Building (MD1)
National University of Singapore
12 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117549

Details:

You are cordially invited to the ON-SITE SSHSPH Staff Research Round. We look forward to your attendance and we hope for an interesting discussion.

Do hang around after the talk as coffee and tea will be provided.

We will also be having a Lucky Draw at the end of the session, so register yourself on-site and stand a chance to win a special prize!

*Only Attendees will be included in the Lucky draw*

Abstract:

Our work aims to understand how changes in non-invasive brain perfusion MRI can predict cognitive decline in our aging society and its relationship with cardiovascular risk factors. While current imaging techniques can only identify irreversible late-stage structural damage, perfusion MRI is sensitive to early-stage cerebrovascular changes that put patients at risk for cognitive decline. This talk will address the potential of brain perfusion MRI as early biomarker from recent population studies.

Speaker:

Prof Henk JMM Mutsaerts

Assistant Professor, in Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands

Henk Mutsaerts is an assistant professor at the Amsterdam UMC in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Henk is an MD and did his PhD in neuroradiology. His main research focus is to develop ASL perfusion MRI as an early biomarker for cognitive decline. He’s a co-author of the ExploreASL pipeline for processing perfusion and structural MRI images and specializes at clinically and physiologically-informed image analysis, through which he works with several imaging groups, including the group of Dr. Hilal.

Abstract:

One of the earliest signs of aging-related cognitive decline diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease is the loss of the Blood-Brain-Barrier (BBB) integrity, which can be imaged with positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). While most methods require contrast agents, novel MRI techniques such as introduced by the first speaker Henk Mutsaers allow the measurement of several hemodynamic and physiological parameters including the BBB integrity. This talk will address recent insights population studies on the potential of non-invasive BBB MRI as early biomarker.

Speaker:

Dr Jan Petr 
Research Fellow, Helmholtz Center in Dresden, Germany

Jan Petr is a researcher working for a Helmholtz Center in Dresden in Germany. Jan has graduate in computer science and has done his PhD in medical imaging. His main research focus is MRI perfusion imaging in the brain with arterial spin labeling, which he applies to various pathologies and also to study healthy brain aging. He’s a co-author of the ExploreASL pipeline for processing ASL data and through this software collaborates with several imaging labs, including the group of Dr. Hilal, on analyzing ASL data.