My long-term goals are to further develop my research programs in developing and applying MRI methods to investigate physiology in neurovascular diseases of the retina and brain. A major focus of my work has been to i) develop high-resolution MRI to image different layers of the retina in animal models and humans ii) to develop and apply sophisticated MRI techniques to investigate neurological disease pathophysiology in rodent models and humans. These developments include: a) methods to measure layer-specific blood flow of the retina and choroid, b) high-resolution functional MRI to detect physiologically induced changes in the retina and choroid, c) methods to directly image water exchange using deuterium oxide MRI, and d) measurement of ocular oxygen tension in the vitreous and the brain. I have experience developing and applying these sophisticated MRI techniques to investigate vascular dysfunction and pathophysiology of retinal disease in rodent models of numerous diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and retinal degeneration. I have also used similar methods translated to human studies of aging, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration. In recognition of my contributions to advancing ocular and retinal MRI, I have been selected as a Junior Fellow by the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.<\/p>\n
I further have experience developing and applying sophisticated MRI techniques to investigate neurological and neurovascular disease pathophysiology in rodent models of numerous diseases, including Alzheimer\u2019s disease, Parkinson\u2019s disease, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. I have developed novel MRI methods, including novel MRI techniques for measuring blood flow in mice and a method to measure changes in brain oxygen tension. In humans I have also used MRI to investigate functional, anatomical, and diffusion changes in the brain in normal aging and in glaucoma. Details of these studies include:<\/p>\n
I have for a long time contributed my expertise to the scholarly community by peer-reviewing for many well-established journals in the field of MRI and medical imaging. Many of these the same journals that I submit my manuscripts too, so it has been a rewarding experience to review for these. In the past several years, I have also reviewed for several NIH review panels as ad-hoc and mail reviewer. My unique research area of developing and applying neuroimaging techniques to the retina has allowed me to provide my expertise in review to both ophthalmic disease and MRI development.<\/p>\n
In addition to my contributions to the research field, I also have experience providing service for my department \/ university. I was the Director of the Preclinical MRI Center at Stony Brook University which provides a core service of MRI of small animal imaging both for Stony Brook investigators and external investigators in the Long Island region. My responsibilities as director included managing the facilities (equipment upkeep, fire system and IACUC inspections), discussing MRI studies with investigators to help them to design and implement protocols for their experiments, providing information for grant submissions that will utilize the center, helping to manage scheduling and billing, assisting the centers technician to setup new imaging protocols when needed. I also undertook activities to promote the Preclinical MRI Center to investigators by giving several presentations on the capabilities of the center to other centers\/departments at the university. I also took the initiative to design a website for the center to provide detailed information on the facilities and example research studies to give greater visibility. At ºÚÁÏÍø I will have the appointment of Human MR Imaging Technical Director at the Biomedical Research Imaging Center, in which I plan to provide similar services.<\/p>\n