MRC DTP in Precision Medicine

Characterisation of Gliomas with 7T MRI

Supervisors

Dr Graeme Keith, School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Glasgow
Prof Natasha Fullerton, School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Glasgow
Prof David Porter, School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Glasgow
Prof Anthony Chalmers, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow

Summary

We are looking for a physicist or engineer to participate in a project to develop a high-resolution MRI protocol for bespoke precision medicine imaging in brain tumours. This will integrate medical research across a range of disciplines, including technology development for clinical MRI, and will be based in the Imaging Centre of Excellence (ICE), which houses one of the first ultra-high field 7 tesla (7T) MRI scanners in a clinical setting. The PhD project will involve a close collaboration with partners in the NHS, Siemens Healthcare, and MR CoilTech, a local company with expertise in developing radiofrequency coils for MRI.
This project will use 7T MRI to develop advanced methods for the characterisation of brain tumour metabolism. Compared to standard MRI at 1.5T or 3T, the higher signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) and greater spectral resolution of 7T provides access to previously unavailable quantitative imaging and spectroscopic biomarkers in gliomas.

The successful candidate will be involved in the design and implementation of new Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI), Arterial Spin Labelling (ASL) and Diffusion-weighted (DWI) methods using parallel-transmit (pTx) techniques and dedicated RF hardware developed at ICE, to be included alongside more established imaging methods in a bespoke protocol for 7T glioma imaging. The candidate will also contribute to a clinical study assessing the benefits of the protocol and identifying new potential biomarkers in glioma phenotyping.