Dmitriy A Yablonskiy
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Biomedical Engineering
Alzheimer disease (AD) damages brain tissue 15 to 20 years before memory symptoms appear, yet standard MRI mainly detects brain shrinkage, which happens late and understates neuron loss. Finding neuron loss earlier could identify people at highest risk when treatment may work best.
- Fields
Biomedical Engineering
Medicine & Clinical Research
Neuroscience
- Topics
Alzheimer disease
quantitative gradient recalled echo
qGRE
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Feb 2028
What they work on
- Establish qGRE-detected pre-atrophic neurodegeneration, neuron loss before shrinkage, as an imaging biomarker of early, preclinical Alzheimer disease.
- Relate qGRE measures of hippocampal neuron loss to losses in brain functional connectivity and cognitive performance in early Alzheimer disease.
- Combine the qGRE biomarker with plasma amyloid-beta 42/40 blood tests and test links to brain maps of Alzheimer-related genes.
- Develop a DLA-qGRE pipeline using RARE deep learning and optimized k-space sampling for fast, high-resolution scans, and validate it in clinical neuroradiology.
More about the research
Both projects build on quantitative Gradient Recalled Echo (qGRE) MRI, a technique developed by the lab. qGRE has revealed "Dark Matter," brain regions with low R2t* signal that are largely empty of neurons.
Why it matters
A fast MRI test that detects neuron loss before brain shrinkage could help screen for early Alzheimer disease when drugs may work best, track patients over time and monitor drug trials. Shorter scans may also improve patient comfort, reduce motion problems and lower exam costs.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Deep-Learning-Augmented Quantitative Gradient Recalled Echo (DLA-qGRE) MRI for in vivo Clinical Evaluation of Brain Microstructural Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer Disease
NIH · Mar 2023 – Feb 2028
In vivo Identification of Pre-Atrophic Brain Neurodegeneration in Prodromal Alzheimer Disease with Quantitative Gradient Recalled Echo MRI
NIH · Jun 2022 – May 2027
Closest labs
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University of Rhode Island, RI·Neuroscience
Identify differences in retinal imaging measures between older adults with preclinical Alzheimer's disease and cognitively unimpaired peers in the ARIAS cohort.
Shannon Risacher
Wake Forest University, NC·Neuroscience
Test whether changes in vision, smell and hearing in preclinical and prodromal Alzheimer's disease are driven by amyloid and tau buildup in the brain, measured by imaging, and by loss of brain tissue.
Qolamreza Ray Razlighi
Weill Medical College of Cornell University, NY·Neuroscience
Develop the Tau Progression Index (TPI), a single prognostic score that combines each person's MRI-based structural and functional brain connectivity with the regional patterns of amyloid-beta and tau seen on PET scans.
The school
Washington University in St Louis: 97 labs on PI Pages, $1.2B a year on research, 365 research doctorates a year.
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