Molly has been awarded a two-year R21 grant from NINDS to determine the ability of Acute Intermittent Hypoxia therapy to enhance blood flow in the brain of healthy adults. This controlled cross-over trial is an exploratory “high-risk, high-reward” study that examines whether a simple intervention can increase resting cerebral perfusion and the vasodilatory responsiveness of cerebral blood vessels. The intervention is already used in several studies at Northwestern University and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab to evoke neural plasticity for rehabilitation, and this study explores whether it also achieves vascular plasticity. Participants will undergo three weeks of regular, brief exposures to hypoxia, and advanced arterial spin labeling MRI techniques and MRI-compatible gas challenges will be used to assess the impact on the cerebrovasculature. Recruitment starting soon; see the Current Studies page for more information!
Studies
Research featured at ISMRM Annual Meeting
Recent work from the lab, lead by first author Dr. Rachael Stickland, was featured in the closing highlights session of the annual meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. The meeting, held virtually for the first time, brought together over 5 thousand clinicians and scientists in the field of MRI and medical imaging for a week of talks, poster presentations, and virtual discussion. Dr. Stickland’s work was selected and discussed by Dr. Kevin Murphy (Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Center), and demonstrates our lab’s proposed technique for characterizing the responsiveness of brain blood vessels using a simple, feasible, breathing task protocol during scanning. Congrats to all the authors!
