Postdoc Andrea Capozzi has received a H. C. Ørsted COFUND fellowship grant.
The grant funds a two-year Postdoc position at DTU Elektro's Center for Magnetic Resonance where Andrea Capozzi will carry out his research project 'Generating long-lasting transportable hyperpolarized substrates via Dynamic Nuclear Polarization and thermal annihilation of photoinduced radicals' as part of the activities in the HYPERMAG Center of Excellence.
"I am very pleased to welcome Andrea Capozzi into HYPERMAG. He comes from one of the leading groups and a high-ranking institution. He has already published important works within the field, and his research project may remove a major barrier for unleashing the full potential of Metabolic MR as a diagnostic tool. His contribution will also help us maintain our status as international frontrunners in the field. We are grateful to DTU and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions for making it possible."
Jan Ardenkjær-Larsen, Group Leader
Hyperpolarization via dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (dDNP) is pivotal to boost magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sensitivity, opening up for in vivo real-time MRI using in particular 13C-labelled substrates. Hyperpolarized MRI has the potential to fundamentally change how we investigate the inner workings of the human body, diagnose diseases (in particular cancer), approach drug design, and assess therapies, for the sake of a visionary future focused on early diagnosis and personalized treatment.
The types of applications are however limited by the relatively fast decay of the hyperpolarized nuclear spins state together with the constraint of having to polarize the nuclei in a dedicated apparatus nearby but separated from the MRI magnet.
Andrea Capozzi’s project presents a paradigm shift in the technique, accomplished by the combination of DNP with photo-induced thermal instable radical species, an original idea proposed in Dr Capozzi’s PhD thesis.
The ultimate goal is to generate highly polarized substrates via DNP made transportable and long relaxing by means of in-situ scavenging of the non-persistent paramagnetic centers rising up the temperature above their annihilation point. Indeed, being able to dissolve the solid sample many hours after its polarization, extraction and transport, will allow the use of a single, central polarizer to serve many MR facilities, similarly to what it is currently done in nuclear medicine for the distribution of radiopharmaceuticals. This opportunity will promote an even wider diffusion of hyperpolarization via DNP.
Andrea Capozzi holds a Master degree from University of Pavia and started exploring the field of dDNP through his PhD project at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.
He will carry out his research project at DTU in the period 1 July 2017 – 30 June 2019.
With the H. C. Ørsted COFUND fellowship program, Technical University of Denmark invites highly talented experienced researchers who have achieved outstanding results in their research while demonstrating excellence and potential in their field.
The program is named after Hans Christian Ørsted, discoverer of electro-magnetism and founder of the University, and is co-funded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. See more on the program here.