Our lab is focused on developing novel hyperpolarized carbon-13 metabolic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods, which has clinical potential as a non-invasive tool with applications such as cancer staging and monitoring treatment response.  We also are working on development and application of semi-solid tissue MR imaging techniques for positive contrast of tissues such as tendons, bone, and myelin that are invisible with conventional techniques.

The lab is led by Professor Peder Larson, who received his PhD in Electrical Engineering under Dwight Nishimura at Stanford University in 2007, and has been at UCSF since then.  It is based in the Byers Hall at the UCSF Mission Bay campus, as a part of the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) at UCSF.  The primary facilites available for research include 3T and 7T MRI systems with 3 adjacent Hyperpolarizers, all of which are part of the Surbeck Laboratory for Advanced Imaging, and are supported in part by the NIH-funded Hyperpolarized MRI Technology Resource Center.

Graduate or post-doctoral opportunities are available in the lab - please contact us if interested.