The human brain requires a constant supply of oxygen and other nutrients to be delivered through the bloodstream. Once oxygenated blood arrives in the brain’s microvasculature, oxygen is extracted from capillaries into tissue, where it is consumed to fuel the brain’s energy demands. Impairment in either oxygen supply or extraction results in insufficient oxygen availability relative to metabolic demand, potentially leading to hypoxic brain injury.

Our lab specializes in the use of noninvasive magnetic resonance (MRI) approaches for characterizing hemodynamic and metabolic function in the human brain. We develop novel quantitative approaches for characterizing blood flow and oxygen dynamics in vivo by leveraging state-of-the-art technologies, including ultra-high field MRI. We then apply these approaches to delineate how microvascular function is impacted by the typical aging process and how risk factors for vascular and neurodegenerative diseases alter these relationships.

Prior work has been largely focused on how gray matter in the brain is affected by pathologies that impact blood flow. Our lab’s work seeks to expand this understanding by investigative how impairment in oxygen extraction may also play a role in reducing oxygen availability and how such impairment may uniquely affect cerebral white matter.