Research

UCSF hosted the 10^th annual Hyperpolarized MRI Technology Resource Center (HMTRC) Workshop

“I love the science we are doing. I believe it has the potential to make a difference for the patient,” said researcher Pavithra Viswanath, PhD, principal investigator of the Cancer Metabolic Imaging and Therapy Lab and associate professor in the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. “At UCSF, we have a fantastic setup to develop novel therapies, and there’s no place better than Radiology to develop metabolic imaging biomarkers.”

A study from the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging investigates the relationship between aberrant neuronal circuit mechanisms and functional abnormalities observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD) using magnetoencephalography (MEG) imaging.

Many veterans with Gulf War illness report losing their sense of smell. Because anosmia is recognized as a potential early symptom of diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, Linda Chao, PhD, of the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, has sought to identify if anosmia in GW veterans could be predictive of impaired cognitive function.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), plays a pivotal role in healthcare, determining treatment paths and eligibility for procedures like hip or knee replacements. Yet, approximately 90% of the global population lacks access to this vital technology. The prospect of a more compact, affordable, and easily installable MRI machine raises an intriguing question: How many lives could be saved, and how much suffering could be alleviated with improved access to this transformative technology?

People are living longer, and as a result, we’re seeing more patients experiencing chronic pain conditions associated with implant/joint replacement pain. At UCSF, we have the opportunity to develop an optimal MRI strategy to diagnose and treat pain sources for these patients.

Models trained on other pathologies can be adapted to identify MS lesions with smaller datasets.

“What I find most meaningful about my work as a researcher is fulfilling my search for knowledge and curiousity,” said Celine Taglang, PhD, a researcher in the Cancer Metabolic Imaging and Therapy Lab in UCSF’s Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging.

The complex process of drifting from wakefulness to sleep is governed by the brain’s cortex, and new research from UCSF imaging scientists advances our understanding of this important phenomenon.

In 2003, the Center for Molecular and Functional Imaging (CMFI) at China Basin Landing opened its doors with San Francisco’s first 3T MRI and two 1.5T clinical scanners, followed a few years later by a cyclotron which launched our in-house radiopharmaceutical program. Since then, the CMFI has been at the forefront of 3T research and major advances in theranostics and precision medicine.