User:Jonathan Thiessen

I am interested in the complementary diagnostic information available with multimodal imaging, either with different quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods or with simultaneous positron emission tomography and MRI (PET/MRI). To this end, I have optimized and applied several quantitative MRI methods, including measurements of relaxation, diffusion, and magnetization transfer to assess tissue microstructure in healthy and diseased white matter. My interest in multimodal imaging has extended to the development of hardware that can combine the sensitivity and specificity of PET with the anatomical, structural and functional capabilities of MRI. As a postdoctoral fellow, I worked with Dr. Andrew Goertzen and his collaborators developing an MR compatible small-animal PET insert. The ability to perform simultaneous PET/MRI experiments in small animal models of disease will enable new research into novel PET probes and multimodal imaging methods in cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and cardiac disease. As an Imaging Scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute, I am also fortunate to have access to Canada’s only clinical hybrid PET/MRI. With this powerful new multimodal molecular imaging tool, we hope to give new insight into the early biomarkers of disease and improve diagnosis and therapy in patients.