The MR Research lab has been in existence since 1984. The focus of this group is the development of translational applications for MR science and technology. Major areas of investigation and development include: cardiovascular, neurological and body MR imaging, as well as MR spectroscopy, contrast agent development and small animal imaging. The MR group is highly collaborative, with projects spanning multiple departments within the university. The majority of projects are focused on developing new imaging methods to diagnose disease and/or enhance our understanding of disease pathophysiology. The MR Research Group provides expertise in the use of 1.5T and 3.0T clinical, whole-body MRI scanners. The group also has a 4.7T Varian Inova small animal system, a contrast agent development lab, and MR-compatible flow and motion systems for phantom studies.
- John Oshinski, PhD
Director, MR Research
Imaging of Cardiac Dyssynchrony
Determination of Aortic Pulse Wave Velocity as a Marker or of Vascular Compliance
Developing MRI Based Methodology for Molecular and Cellular Imaging with Novel MRI Contrast Agents
Imaging of Cardiac Function and Blood Flow in Mice
Yang L, Peng XH, Wang YA, Wang X, Cao Z, Ni C, Karna P, Wood WC, Gao X, Nie S, Mao H*. Receptortargeted nanoparticles for in vivo imaging of breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 15:4722-32. 2009.
The research done in Dr. Hui Mao's lab collaborating with Dr. Lily Yang's lab in the Department of Surgery has lead to the development of a new biomarker targeted molecular imaging diagnosis of breast cancer. Featured on the cover of Clinical Cancer Research in July, the article details the properties of the "smart magnetic nanoparticle probes" that trace and bind to breast cancer cells and make cancer tissues visible by MRI. The study is a part of NIH Funded Emory Molecular and Translational Imaging Center (P50).
Goldstein FC, Mao H, Wang L, Ni C, Lah JJ, Levey AI: White matter integrity and episodic memory performance in mild cognitive impairment: a diffusion tensor imaging study. Brain Imaging and Behavior. 3: 132-141, 2009.
Fornwalt BK, Delfino JG, Sprague WW, Oshinski JN. It's time for a paradigm shift in the quantitative evaluation of left ventricular dyssynchrony. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2009 Jun;22(6):672-6.
Fornwalt BK, Sprague WW, Carew JD, Merlino JD, Fyfe DA, Leon AR, Oshinski JN. Variability in tissue Doppler echocardiographic measures of dyssynchrony is reduced with use of a larger region of interest. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2009 May;22(5):478-85.
Yang L, Mao H, Peng, XH, Cao, Z, Sajja HK, Wang L, Wang, AY, Wood, WC, Nie, S. Molecular Imaging of Pancreatic Cancer In A Preclinical Animal Tumor Model Using Targeted Multifunctional Nanoparticles. Gastroenterology. May, 136(5):1514-25, 2009.
Wang L, Goldstein FG, Lah JJ, Meltzer CC, Levey A, Holder CA, Mao H. Alterations in cortical thickness and white matter integrity in mild cognitive impairment measured by whole brain cortical thickness mapping and diffusion tensor imaging. AJNR, Amer. J. Neuroradiology, May, 30(5):893-9, 2009.
Fielden SW, Fornwalt BK, Jerosch-Herold M, Eisner RL, Stillman AE, Oshinski JN. A new method for the determination of aortic pulse wave velocity using cross-correlation on 2D PCMR velocity data. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2008 Jun;27(6):1382-7.
Fornwalt BK, Gonzales PC, Delfino JC, Eisner R, Leon AR, Oshinski JN. Quantification of Left Ventricular Internal Flow from Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Images in Patients with Dyssynchronous Heart Failure. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2008;28:375-381.
Fornwalt BK, Cummings RM, Arita T, Delfino JG, Fyfe DA, Campbell RM, Strieper MJ, Oshinski JN, Frias PA. Acute pacing-induced dyssynchronous activation of the left ventricle creates systolic dyssynchrony with preserved diastolic synchrony. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2008 May;19(5):483-8.
Fornwalt BK, Cummings RM, Arita T, Delfino JG, Fyfe DA, Campbell RM, Strieper MJ, Oshinski JN, Frias PA. Acute Pacing-Induced Dyssynchronous Activation of the Left Ventricle Creates Systolic Dyssynchrony with Preserved Diastolic Synchrony. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2008 Feb 4.
Delfino JG, Fornwalt BK, Eisner RL, Leon AR, Oshinski JN. Determination of transmural, endocardial, and epicardial radial strain and strain rate from phase contrast MR velocity data. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2008 Jan 24; [Epub ahead of print]
Delfino JG, Johnson KR, Eisner RL, Eder S, Leon AR, Oshinski JN. Three-directional Myocardial Phase-Contrast Tissue Velocity MR Imaging with Navigator-Echo Gating: In Vivo and in Vitro Study.Radiology. 2008 Jan 25; [Epub ahead of print]
Sun B, Giddens DP, Long R Jr, Taylor WR, Weiss D, Joseph G, Vega D, Oshinski JN. Automatic plaque characterization employing quantitative and multicontrast MRI. Magn Reson Med. 2008 Jan;59(1):174-80.
Yang L, Mao H, Wang, AY, Cao, Z, Peng, X, Wang X, Duan, H, Ni, C, Yuan Q, Adams, G, Smith MQ, Wood, WC, Gao, X and Nie, S: Single Chain Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Antibody Conjugated Nanoparticles for in vivo Tumor Targeting and Imaging. Small, 2008, (in press).
Shi C, Wang X, Wu SX, Zhu Y, Chung LWK, Mao H: Changes of metabolite profiles during the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cell to targeted fatty cells, J. Tissue Eng. Reg. Med., 2008, (in press).
Duan HW, Kuang M, Wang X, Wang AY, Nie S, Mao H: Altering the hydrophobicity of surface coating polymer of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles can control the relaxivities and MRI contrast, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2008, 112 (22), 8127-8131, 2008.
Fornwalt BK, Arita T, Bhasin M, Voulgaris G, Merlino JD, Leon AR, Fyfe DA, Oshinski JN. Cross-correlation quantification of dyssynchrony: a new method for quantifying the synchrony of contraction and relaxation in the heart. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2007 Dec;20(12):1330-1337.e1. Epub 2007 Jul 23.
Expertise in image acquisition and analysis of Cardiovascular, Neurological, and Body MRI on 1.5T and 3T whole body systems.
Access to clinical whole body MRI scanners
Expertise in Cardiovascular, Spectroscopic, molecular imaging of small animals at 4.7T.
4.7T Varian Inova small animal MRI system (including coils and physiologic gating and monitoring hardware).
John N. Oshinski, PhD - Associate Professor of Radiology and BME, Director of MR Research Center (Emory School of Medicine Core)
Richard Jones, PhD - MR Physicist, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Bobby Kalb, MD—Assistant Professor of Radiology
Robert C. Long, PhD - Assistant Professor of Radiology, Director of the Animal Imaging Lab
Hui Mao, PhD - Associate Professor of Radiology
Diego Martin, MD, PhD - Professor of Radiology, Clinical Director of MRI.
Liya Wang, MD - Senior Research Associate
Margaret Duello - Research Project Coordinator
Hiroumi Kitami - MR Physicist
Charles Kitchen - Research Specialist
Khalil Salman - Research Associate
Puneet Sharma - MR Physicist
Bill Spraque - Senior Research Assistant
Pierre Watson - Research Specialist
Julie Yeh, BS - Research Specialist (Mao)
Ian Campbell (Oshinski/Taylor) - Emory/GT, BME
Brandon Fornwalt (Oshinski) - Emory MD/Ph.D program
Jonathan Suever (Oshinski) - Emory/GT, BIOE
Hospital, Shanghai ((Molecular Imaging and MR Spectroscopy)
Longjiang Zhang, MD, PhD (Mao) Nanjing University, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing, China
Dan Karolyi, MD, PhD - (Oshinski/Tong) - RSNA Research Resident
Michelle Consolini (Taylor/Oshinski) - Cardiology Research Fellow
Jana Delfino, PhD
Brandon Fornwalt, PhD - Emory MD/PhD program
Hongwei Chen, PhD (Mao)
MR Research
Department of Radiology
Emory University Hospital, Room AG30
1364 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30322
Margaret Duello
Research Project Coordinator
Phone: 404-712-5757
Fax: 404-712-5948
email: mduello@emory.edu