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Bruker ISMRM Lunch Time Symposium

During the past two decades, MRI has gained tremendous importance – not only in the clinic but also in biomedical research involving animals. Although pertinent studies cover a wide range of pathophysiological conditions and organ systems, a special emphasis is on the field of neuroscience. Apart from developing new markers for the specific diagnosis of human brain disorders or the monitoring of disease progression and therapeutic interventions, a prime target of respective MRI approaches is to more directly link the advances in neurogenetics and molecular biology to clinical research. In this respect, the non-invasiveness of MRI provides the basis for its unique potential to examine the functional properties of genes and proteins at the system level. Such studies can be performed with almost identical techniques in the intact living brain of transgenic mice, nonhuman primates, and human patients. This presentation will elaborate on the role of MRI in translational research using selected examples that cover different clinical questions (e.g., multiple sclerosis), individual mechanisms identified by genetic intervention (e.g., oligodendrocyte function and axonal integrity), and diverse animal models (e.g., mouse, rat, marmoset monkey). Complementary to optical techniques such as fluorescence microscopy, in vivo MRI is expected to further expand the role of imaging sciences in biology and, in particular, to more rapidly transfer the knowledge from bench to bed for the benefit of patients.