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Powerful Imager Strengthens Longwood MRI Facility
December saw the official opening of the new Advanced MRI Facility at 221 Longwood Ave. Developed by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair (HCNR), this new facility highlights the growing trend in cross-institutional, collaborative research.
Photo by Liza Green, HMS Media Services
At the MRI facility ribbon-cutting are (left to right) Ferenc Jolesz, the B. Leonard Holman professor of radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; HCNR director Adrian Ivinson; HMS dean Joseph Martin; and BWH president Gary Gottlieb.
The revamped facility contains the newly established HCNR magnetic resonance imaging program, based on the recent acquisition of a short-bore 3T MRI instrument. The HCNR had sought the collaboration of BWH to jointly establish an MRI facility that would provide researchers from across the HCNR’s 700-plus member community with a state-of-the-art brain imaging facility. In addition to access to the instrumentation, the new facility provides all HCNR members with full-time technical support and training.
“We believe this investment in neurological research is warranted both for advancing our understanding and treatment of disease and for encouraging and supporting our research community,” said Adrian Ivinson, HCNR’s director. “It will allow us to both support ongoing MRI-based research into neurodegenerative diseases and to attract many new and innovative applications of the technology.” An RFA will be established inviting HCNR members to apply for access to the facility. Projects will focus on translational research aimed at Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, MS, ALS, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Though magnetic resonance imaging is a powerful tool in neurodegenerative research, allowing researchers to image pathologies and monitor their progression, competition for access to appropriate instruments is fierce, with priority often given to clinical procedures. Participants believe that the new brain imaging program will give more scientists the opportunity to untangle many of the unresolved puzzles in the field, develop diagnostic tests, and design drug delivery methods.
Information on the MRI facility and how to apply for its use will be posted on www.hcnr.med.harvard.edu.