Michael McMahon, Ph.D., Professor, Johns Hopkins University, "Developing Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI reporter genes for monitoring gene expression"

Speaker:

Michael McMahon, Ph.D.

Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science

Johns Hopkins University

Faculty Host: Arnab Mukherjee

Title: Developing Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI reporter genes for monitoring gene expression

Abstract:

For those suffering from hereditary diseases caused by gene mutations, the use of gene therapy holds great promise. There are a number of new methods to perform targeted manipulation of gene expression including virus based gene therapy and silencing RNA. One of the challenges is the exorbitant expense, leading to a need to evaluate their success in a rigorous way. We have developed a new set of MRI tools based on Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) contrast to both directly and indirectly assess the treatment efficacy, including genetically encoded reporter genes, substrates which selectively bind to receptors and indirect detection of changes in gene expression through monitoring tumor microenvironment. We will discuss use of these tools for several applications including monitoring adeno associated virus therapy, monitoring oncolytic viral therapy and monitoring silencing RNA therapy.

Bio:

Dr. Michael T. McMahon has a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has been a member of the Radiology Faculty (MR Division) at Johns Hopkins since 2003 where he is currently Full Professor. He is recognized internationally for his work on chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI contrast agents for cancer and kidney imaging including as a President’s International Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is the lead editor of the only textbook on CEST MRI “Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer Imaging: Advances and Applications”. Furthermore, in recognition of his substantial achievements in CEST MRI, Dr. McMahon was elected as Secretary, Vice Chair and Chair of ISMRM’s Molecular Imaging Study Group Study Group, served on ISMRM’s workshop organizing committee, is on the editorial board for Tomography and was previously on the editorial board for Concepts in Magnetic Resonance.