DTU and University of Queensland will collaborate on bioprobes for Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.
Hyperpolarized MR is a novel imaging modality that enables metabolic imaging of infused bioprobes in real-time and with high sensitivity. DTU has pioneered the technology, called dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (dDNP). The technology has a large potential in biomedical imaging.
In the project two PhD students will collaborate together with their supervisors, Professor Jan Henrik Ardenkjaer-Larsen from DTU and Professor David Reutens from CAI. As part of the project, both students will do a 12-month secondment with the partnering university in order to get a direct and hands-on collaboration, exchanging skills and know-how and gaining access to advanced instrumentation and facilities.
The two institutions will use the same bioprobes for the study of brain metabolism, in two complementary applications. At DTU, the technology will be used to look for early biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease, which are hypothesized to be correlated with changes in metabolism. At CAI, the technology will be used to investigate metabolic pathways in the brain following traumatic brain injury.
The PhD position at CAI has been announced recently, with an application deadline on 23 March 2020: https://scholarships.uq.edu.au/scholarship/cibit-phd-top-scholarship-%E2%80%93-magnetic-resonance-imaging-mri-metabolic-pathways-using-dissolution-dynamic-nuclear-polarisation-dnp-molecular-contrast. The PhD position at DTU will be announced shortly.
The project is funded by the two institutions.