Faculty Mentors:
Ralph Weissleder, Marcelo Di Carli, Matthias Nahrendorf, Raymond Kwong, Sharmila Dorbala, Paul Yu, Robert Padera, Ron Blankstein
BWH and the Center for Systems Biology at MGH have a comprehensive infrastructure including advanced imaging capabilities (i.e., PET/CT, SPECT/CT, PET/MRI, and optical imaging) and a cGMP facility for production of human quality radiopharmaceuticals for IND sponsored trials and a strong track record of collaborations. These are unique resources for translational molecular imaging research in pre-clinical models of disease and in humans. The many laboratories involved with this thematic area focus on the development of novel molecular imaging approaches for studying pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease including atherosclerosis, ischemic heart disease, and cardiomyopathies to improve diagnosis and guide management.
Marcelo Di Carli (Clinical Profile, Research Profile) is an expert in cardiovascular nuclear medicine and PET imaging approaches to study vascular and myocardial inflammation, and the use of quantitative techniques for measuring myocardial blood flow and metabolism in ischemic heart disease. He collaborates with many of the faculty in this program and his fellows typically receive cross-training between labs.
Ralph Weissleder (Clinical Profile, Research Profile, Lab Site) is widely recognized as a pioneer and leader in the field of molecular imaging. His research focuses on the development of novel molecularly targeted approaches to study biology and pathophysiology, as well as to improve diagnosis and management of disease, and monitor therapeutic responses noninvasively.
Matthias Nahrendorf (Research Profile, Lab Site) is an expert in molecular imaging with an interest in molecular processes during the healing phase after myocardial infarction and atherosclerosis.
Raymond Kwong (Clinical Profile, Research Profile) is an expert in cardiac MRI. His research is focused on the use of multi-parametric MRI to enhance diagnosis and prognostic assessments in patients with ischemic as well as non-ischemic heart disease.
Sharmila Dorbala (Clinical Profile, Research Profile) trained with Dr. Di Carli and pioneered the use of targeted molecular imaging of cardiac amyloidosis. Her lab uses molecular imaging approaches with PET and MRI to study the role of amyloid fibrils and circulating light chain/amyloid interactions in myocardial dysfunction in light chain amyloid cardiomyopathy.
Paul Yu (Clinical Profile, Research Profile, Lab Site) is an expert in molecular mechanisms of pulmonary hypertension and a particular interest in targeted molecular imaging approaches for early diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Robert Padera (Clinical Profile, Research Profile) is a pathologist with expertise in myocardial pathology. He is a frequent collaborator to many of the investigators listed above with respect to cardiac pathology.
Ron Blankstein (Clinical Profile, Research Profile) is a cardiologist and imaging expert with expertise in imaging approaches in ischemic heart disease and inflammatory cardiomyopathies. Together with Dr. Di Carli, they pioneered the use of PET metabolic imaging for diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with cardiac sarcoidosis.