Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Iron is required by all living cells in the brain for many key functions. To date, accurate measurement of iron in the brain has relied on tissue extraction, either through a biopsy or through a study after death. We propose to introduce and test a new method for measuring iron in the living human brain and apply it to two neurological diseases: Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple sclerosis (MS). PD is a progressive movement disorder, while MS is an autoimmune disorder of unknown cause and extremely high incidence in Canada. In both diseases, structures deep in the brain that are important for movement and brain function, have demonstrated abnormal iron content, in studies performed after death. Recently, very high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines have demonstrated the ability to be very sensitive to changes in iron. We will use a 'triple-strength" high field MRI system and a new MRI technique called phase susceptibility, to measure iron in the living brain of patients. Before the methods can be applied to patients, they must be validated in samples and normal volunteers, and better understood through computer simulation. This will make up the first portion of the degree program, before applying the methods to MS and PD patients in comparison to normal healthy controls. A PhD student who has a previous electrical engineering degree and two years of medical school will carry out the research. He will receive leadership and direction from a high field MRI physicist and a team of MS and PD clinical neurologists. Over the course of the project a new method will be taken from "bench to bedside". He will take a new MRI technique from developmental stages through to clinical testing, providing evidence of iron changes in neurological disease and yielding a new valuable clinical measure: iron content in the living human brain that may see widespread clinical use.