Our mission is to explore and investigate all the various aspects of magnetic resonance (MR) research in medicine. We serve as a research resource for members of the Department of Radiology, the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the community. We invite and encourage research innovation, as well as collaboration at the local, national and international level, and work to provide state-of-the-art technology to researchers and clinicians.
The division’s focus is the development of novel MR methods and their application in biomedicine.
The Division of MR Research includes faculty, staff, and technical personnel, who provide research training, implementation and support for the mission of the Division.
Director, Peter B. Barker, D. Phil
MR Research Areas
MR Imaging Facilities
-
The MRI Service Center is run by the Division of MR Research in the Department of Radiology and directed by Dr. Hanzhang Lu. It operates three MRI scanners for 100% research use, but they are also available for clinical use, if needed. The scanners are:
1. A Philips 32-channel 3 Tesla (T) Achieva MRI system equipped with an X-ray C-arm, broadband magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and a high-frequency focused ultrasound unit for image-guided ablation therapy;
2. A Siemens 3T Trio with up to 64 channels that has been upgraded to a Prisma, and has broadband MRS; and
3. A 1.5T Siemens Espree equipped with a full angiographic floor-mounted X-ray fluoroscopic suite, a miyabi table transfer system for the purpose of developing interventional MRI and is equipped with a Gilead cryo-ablation system.
All scanners have fairly comprehensive sets of phased arrays, and surface coils, and physiological monitoring equipment. The scanners are supported by machine rates that are charged at hourly rates in 15 min increments, as well as daily and monthly lease rates. Lower off-peak hourly rates without have Radiology Technologist (RT) support, are also available for development work at night and weekends (6 PM to 8 AM Monday to Friday, all day on Weekends). Current rates are posted at the link below. During prime time during the week (8AM to 6PM Monday to Friday) clinical MRI support is provided by 2 RTs who are supported by the MRI Service Center.
The FM Kirby Center for functional Brain Imaging in the Kennedy Krieger Institute, located near the main hospital, also has two Philips 3T and one Philips 7T MRI systems and associated monitoring equipment. The facilities are described at https://www.kennedykrieger.org/kirby-research-center. The systems are available for 100% research, generally intended for neuroscience applications. The Kirby Center is supported by an NIH resource grant and is directed by Dr. Peter van Zijl in the Division of MR Research.
Small-bore NMR/MRI systems -The Division of MR Research manages 2 other smaller bore NMR/MRI Service Centers suitable for studies of animal models, cell systems, and in vitro studies.
- The NMR Service Center - has 400 MHz and 500 MHz Bruker NMR spectrometers, and a Bruker 4.7T 40 cm-horizontal bore spectrometer/imager equipped with rapid-switching gradient coils.
- The Molecular Imaging Center – is located in the Broadway Research Building and is primarily geared to animal genetic models in a closed environment. It has a Bruker horizontal bore 9.4T animal system, in addition to an eXplore Vista small animal PET scanner, a SPECT-CT system, an IVIS Xenogen 200 optical imaging system for mice and rats, a VisualSonics small animal ultrasound unit, and a Faxitron MX-20 specimen radiography system.
-
The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions has facilities and resources for the development of MRI/MRS pulse sequences, image analysis software, and data analysis, all currently located in the main Johns Hopkins Hospital. These include computers from Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun), DELL and Apple computers which are all heavily used by researchers. The workstations include simulators for pulse sequence development for the Philips 3T Achieva, Siemens Trio/Prisma 3T and Espree 1.5T research MRI scanners, which are operated and maintained by the MRI Service Center directed by Dr. Paul A Bottomley and managed by Mr. Hugh Wall. In addition, research agreements have been negotiated between JHU and Philips and Siemens to provide access to source codes for certain MRI sequences as well as pulse sequence development software for the Philips and Siemens scanners. These can generally be made accessible to researchers via application to the manufacturers or as part of collaborative projects, subject to certain restrictions.
All of the computers and the MRI scanners are attached to a common ethernet network. This facilitates transfer of pulse sequences and MRI data, minimizing cycle time for developing MRI pulse sequences, and intra- and inter-group communication. Software has been installed and developed to facilitate development and debugging, communication, image processing, and data analysis. There is at least 500 GB of disk storage distributed throughout these facilities.
The Division of MR Research has two people dedicated to the management of the computer facilities and data, Joe Gillen and Yohannes Afework. They manage the computer resources, maintaining and improving operability of the workstations and network, developing software and algorithms, assisting with technical problems that arise, and managing image data produced by the Division's research programs. Data are organized and archived on writeable magneto-optical cartridges, 4 mm DAT tape and/or CDs and/or DVDs.
In addition, the Department of Radiology has a "Center for Biomedical Visualization" (CBMV), an open access computer facility for the development of visualization software for medical applications. Within the division of MR Research, this is managed by Meiyappan Solaiyappan and is equipped with SGI computers to accommodate the development of extremely graphics-intensive applications and real time image processing. This resource is available at a charge to department researchers. -
Two electronics shops, one located behind the animal laboratory, the other on the 3rd floor of the Park Building have a variety of equipment and space for testing, building, and repairing MRI coils (350 MHz Tektronix oscilloscope, Wavetek Frequency Generator, a frequency synthesizer, drills, soldering equipment, a HP network analyzer, an RF noise meter, etc). The facility is overseen by the MRI Service Center and includes a partially-supported an engineer, Parag Karmarkar.
A fully equipped machine shop, located on campus and run by the Department of Biomedical Engineering, is also available on a charge-for-service basis. -
MR Research Areas
Cardiac and Interventional MR
The Cardiac and Interventional MR section has projects to develop miniaturized MR detectors on guidewires for endoscopic MRI at ≤100μm resolution and precision-guided high-frequency intravascular ultrasound ablation. High-speed intravascular MRI methods for imaging vessel disease at ~10 fr/sec are being developed, along with precision MRI-guided interventional procedures that could treat obesity and cancer. Ongoing MR spectroscopy (MRS) studies of cardiac energetics in heart failure patients are underway in collaboration with investigators in the Division of Cardiology.
Our Team
Yingli Fu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Parag Karmarkar, MS
Research Associate
Inez Vazquez
Surgical Vet Technician
Yi Zhang, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Cindy Maranto
MRI Technologist
Kellie Leatherman, BS
Financial Analyst
Peggy Herman, BS, Sr.
Program Coordinator
Maisha Pinkney
Administrative Coordinator
Xiaoyang Liu
Student
Dan Zhu
Student
Neuroscience
The Neuroscience section is focused on the development of novel MRI technologies and their application to basic science problems and clinical disease, especially in the brain. Methods have been and are being developed for (1) MRS and MRS imaging (MRSI); (2) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and axonal mapping; (3) physiological imaging (blood flow, blood volume, and blood oxygenation); (4) Molecular imaging, especially the study of biochemicals and their interactions using magnetization transfer processes; (5) Magnetic susceptibility mapping and fiber tracking using susceptibility tensor information.
Several faculty members of this large section are engaged in the development of new technologies for high-field MRI, including novel biodegradable contrast agents (sugar and proteins), molecular imaging markers, and new endogenous contrast agents for distinguishing tumors from healthy tissue.
Our Team
-
Peter C. Van Zijl, PhD
- Chief, Neuroscience, Division of MR Research, Department of Radiology and Radiological Science
Nirbhay Yadav, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Ann Choe, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Feng Xu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Joe Gillen, B.S.
Research Associate
Kazi Akhter, B.S.
Research Associate
Adnan Bibic, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Associate Professor
Ann Choe, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Feng Xu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Joe Gillen, B.S.
Research Associate
Kazi Akhter, B.S.
Research Associate
Adnan Bibic, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Cellular Imaging
The Cellular Imaging section is located in the Institute for Cell Engineering. We engineer cells so they can be detected with non-invasive imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic particle imaging. Our primary mission is to develop new magnetic tracers and cell labeling procedures to study the fate of therapeutic stem cells and immune cells after injection, also known as “cell tracking”.
We have been part of several clinical studies performed around the world, using cell labeling techniques developed in our lab. Targets of cell therapy include dysmyelination, multiple sclerosis, cancer, spinal cord injury, stroke, and diabetes. We use cell scaffolds and hydrogels to embed our cells for optimal survival post-transplantation and are able to visualize the biodegradation of these gels in vivo, with applications in regenerative medicine. Finally, we develop novel MRI contrast agents and theranostics with clinical applicability. These include both metallic (i.e. paramagnetic) and non-metallic (i.e. diaCEST) agents, and fluorinated tracers and capsules for 19F MRI and 19F iCEST MRI.
Our Team
-
Jeff W. Bulte, MS PhD
- Director of Cellular Imaging, The Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering
Marzieh Salimi, Ph.D
Research Associate
Imman Hosseini, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Asif Itoo, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Kritika Sood, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Heng Zhao
Postdoctoral Fellow
Janani Gurumurthy
Masters Student
Junpyo Kim
Masters Student
Research Associate
Imman Hosseini, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Asif Itoo, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Kritika Sood, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Heng Zhao
Postdoctoral Fellow
Janani Gurumurthy
Masters Student
Junpyo Kim
Masters Student
Neurofunction
Research in the Neurofunction section is focused on the development of novel MRI techniques to evaluate the brain's physiology, function, metabolism, and structure, as well as their clinical applications. Our work spans across humans to animal models and ranges from neonates to elderly individuals. Our central goal is to develop translatable MRI tools as candidate biomarkers in neurologic and psychiatric diseases.
Representative techniques that our team is actively developing include T2-Relaxation-Under-Spin-Tagging (TRUST) to measure oxygenation and oxidative metabolism, cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) to evaluate the brain’s vascular reserve, water extraction with phase contrast arterial spin tagging (WEPCAST) for non-contrast assessment of BBB permeability, MR fingerprinting arterial spin labeling (MRF-ASL) for multi-parametric hemodynamic imaging, and brain atlases in special populations such as pediatric patients. Our team is looking forward to opportunities of collaboration and welcomes inquiries or requests of our techniques.
Our Team
Hanzhang Lu, Ph.D.
Professor (Section Head)
Peiying Liu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Zhipeng Hou
Research Associate
Kenichi Oishi, M.D., Ph.D.
Sandeepa Sur, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Kaisha Hazel
Research Associate
George Pottanat
Research Program Coordinator
Cuimei Xu, Sr.
Research Assistant
Gongkai Liu
Research Assistant
Zhiliang Wei, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Zixuan Lin, Ph.D.
Student
Xirui Hou, Ph.D.
Student
Dengrong Jiang
Post Doc
Hongli Fan
PhD Student
Chantelle Lim, Ph.D.
Student
Neurometabolism
Research in the Neurometabolism section is focused on the development of novel MRS techniques to measure metabolite levels in the brain, as well as their neuroscience applications. Our work ranges from acquisition to analysis, and from neonates to elderly individuals. Our central goal is to develop tools that make MRS accessible to the non-expert user for applications in clinical and neuroscience applications.
We develop the open-source post-processing and modeling toolkit Osprey, which allows us to advance linear combination modeling of traditional MRS and MRSI data, as well as to develop analyses for the novel acquisition pulse sequence that our group develops. We pioneered the approach of Hadamard-encoded J-difference editing with the HERMES and HERCULES techniques, which allow edited detection of multiple metabolites in a single experiment. We are leading the application of our methods in the HEALthy Baby and Childhood Development (HBCD) study, a national longitudinal study of over 7,000 babies at 25 sites across the US. Our team is looking forward to opportunities of collaboration and welcomes inquiries or requests of our techniques.
Ipek Ozdemir, Ph.D.
Instructor
Helge J. Zöllner, Ph.D.
Instructor
Aaron T. Gudmundson, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Yulu Song, M.D.
Research Associate
Saipavitra Murali-Manohar, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Gizeaddis L. Simegn, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Zahra Shams, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Christopher William Davies-Jenkins, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dunja Simicic, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Abdelrahman Gad, M.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Instructor
Helge J. Zöllner, Ph.D.
Instructor
Aaron T. Gudmundson, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Yulu Song, M.D.
Research Associate
Saipavitra Murali-Manohar, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Gizeaddis L. Simegn, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Zahra Shams, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Christopher William Davies-Jenkins, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dunja Simicic, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Abdelrahman Gad, M.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
MR Recent Updates
-
Professors Bottomley, Kraitchman, Bulte, van Zijl, Mori, and Lu are all fellows of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) and distinguished Investigators of the Academy of Radiology Research.
Professors Bottomley, van Zijl, Bulte, and Mori are also ISMRM gold medal recipients for their contributions to the field of MR in Medicine; Professors Bottomley, van Zijl and Bulte are recognized by medals from other international/national professional societies; and Professor Kraitchman is also a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology.
Pictured: Four Gold Medalists of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine in the Division of MR Research, Dec 2013. Left to right: William Edelstein (1944-2014), Jeff Bulte, Paul Bottomley, and Peter van Zijl
-
The division holds an annual retreat at an off-site location, where division members can enjoy a break from routine scheduling demands for a few days. The goals of the retreat are to promote cross-fertilization and communication among the various people in the division, with the hope that new ventures will arise; to provide constructive feedback on research directions and progress; and to provide a relaxed and informal environment where issues can be raised and discussed for further action. The retreat has been held at locations such as the Chesapeake Beach Resort in Chesapeake Beach, MD., Berkeley Springs, WV, St. Michaels, MD, Gettysburg, PA, and in Harpers Ferry, WV, where the group enjoyed a white-water rafting trip. A record number of guests attend the retreat each year.
MR Research Contact Information
The Division of MR Research occupies several thousand square feet of space in many different areas of the Johns Hopkins East Baltimore campus. Contact is best established with the specific Division member whose research endeavors and projects are most germane to your interests.
Johns Hopkins University
Department of Radiology
600 N. Wolf Street, Park 311
Baltimore, MD 21287
Phone: 410-955-6500
Fax: 410-614-1977