This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.As described in the UH CRC competitive renewal, a priority initiative was the establishment of a Magnetic Resonance (MR) Core at the Queen's Medical Center (QMC). The UH CRC has been successful in incorporating the MR Core Lab and the research activities of Core Lab Director and Co-Director, Drs. Linda Chang and Thomas Ernst, into its program. The primary objective and goals of the UH CRC MR Core are as follows:Primary objective: To provide sophisticated clinical and technological support to ongoing and new investigator-initiated protocols that require the use of MR techniques (especially in NIH-supported Category A subject visits). The goals designed to achieve this objective are as follows:1) To develop and validate new MR methods that can be applied to clinical research. This will involve exploration of algorithms and new technologies to try to advance the science of applying MR techniques to clinical and translational research. 2) To provide training for investigators on MR techniques for use in clinical research. This will comprise monthly seminars and other training opportunities presented by the MR Core directors to all interested CRC-affiliated investigators.3) To foster interdisciplinary collaborations that will lead to more comprehensive clinical research projects. This will include assisting new investigators to develop and implement pilot studies that utilize MR techniques, with the ultimate goal that these pilot studies will provide the basis for future hypothesis-driven grant proposals. The main areas of clinical research conducted by UH investigators at the MR Core Lab facility include:1) Research on the pathophysiology of HIV brain injury;2) Research on the effects of substance abuse, particularly methamphetamine and marijuana;3) Research related to brain development in drug-exposed individuals (young children and adolescents);4) Research related to normal aging, and the interaction between aging and other brain disorders (e.g., HIV, other dementia);5) MRI methodological developments that will improve the capability of ongoing clinical studies.6) Development and implementation of new or existing image processing techniques that will enable quantitative assessments for clinical MR studies.
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