Applications of Arterial Spin Labelling MRI in Neuroscience and Neurology │Dr. Udunna Anazodo

Summary: Decades of investments in advancing medical imaging technologies, particularly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have transformed the way patient care is delivered and contributed immensely to improved prognosis of several neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s dementia and psychiatric disorders. MRI is now routinely used in the standard of care of several types of neurological disorders and has increased our understanding of normal brain function and the complex aetiology and pathophysiological underpinnings of these neurological disorders. This talk will highlight the role of arterial spin labelling (ASL), an MRI technique for non-invasive quantification of perfusion. ASL has become widely available on all vendor platform since it was developed over 25 years ago. ASL is poised to become a staple clinical tool and an important biomarker for evaluating changes in brain health. I will discuss studies performed by my group using ASL to address neuroscience questions and map regional changes in brain health Speaker Bio: Dr Udunna Anazodo completed her doctoral studies in Medical Biophysics in 2015 at Western University (formerly The University of Western Ontario) in London, Ontario, Canada. She was a Mitcas Accelerate postdoctoral fellow at Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario, where she worked on translational PET/MRI projects. She is currently the PET/MRI Neuroimaging Scientist and Physicists at Lawson Health Research Institute and an Assistant Professor at the Departments of Medical Biophysics and Clinical Neurological Sciences, Western University. She directs the MINDLab at Lawson with a research focus on the development of non-invasive advanced PET and MRI techniques for clinical brain imaging, with an emphasis on epilepsy, dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases. She is also interested in democratizing MRI to increase access in under-represented parts of the world. She recently formed a Committee to Advanced MRI Education and Research in Africa (CAMERA) under the European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB) with the goal of building highly qualified capacity for MRI Research in Africa. She is also a founding member of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Moderator: Arif A. Hamid PhD is a Hanna Gray Fellow at HHMI, and an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Medical Discovery Team in Addiction (MDTA) at the University of Minnesota. https://arifahamid.com/index.html Coordinator: Mosab Ali Awadelkareem, Al-Neelain University, Sudan. Society of Neuroscientists of Africa – SONA: https://sonafrica.org/   / sonaorg     / society-of-neuroscientists-of-africa-sona-...      / @societyofneuroscientistsof385   TReND in Africa: https://trendinafrica.org/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/trendin... https://twitter.com/trendinafrica?lan...   / trendinafrica   Worldwide Neuro: https://www.worldwideneuro.com/   / worldwideneuro