Structure & Function

The Centre for Advanced Imaging covers various programs to improve our understanding of structure and function:

Functional and structural connectivity changes in healthy ageing and neurodegenerative diseases are studied to improve the diagnosis of diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease,  Epilepsy, spinal cord injury, neuroinflammation and diseases of white matter. Further, novel methods and imaging contrasts using ultra-high field MRI are developed for neuroimaging, cancer and cardiac MRI. The advanced imaging techniques are combined with genetic information and with other modalities (eg Simultaneous PET/MRI) and modelled using systems biology and megavariate data analysis. Imaging and spectroscopy techniques are also used to diagnose, monitor and evaluate treatment in pre-clinical models of cancer and Comparative Oncology uses cancer models in companion animals such as dogs to bridge the gap between preclinical models and humans. Finally the treatment of diseases can be substantially improved by theranostics, an area of Nanomedicine, where new materials are developed which provide a diagnostic response to targeted drug delivery in vivo.