Grant Recipient Impact Statement
Scholar Award in Neuroradiology Research – Pejman Maralani
Grant Recipient Year: 2019
I would like to thank the ASNR Foundation for providing me the opportunity to work towards my academic aspirations. The ASNR Scholar Award allows me to lay the foundation for large, impactful projects that will hopefully one day help patients with glioblastoma. I cannot thank you enough for your support and generosity.
Pejman Maralani, MD, FRCPC
Sunnybrook Research Institute
Boerger Research Fund for Alzheimer’s Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders – Ilya Nasrallah
Grant Recipient Year: 2019
Evaluation of [F18]NOS as a Novel PET Radiotracer for Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease
The Foundation award is important to allow investigators to pursue novel, exploratory projects for new avenues of research. These opportunities may provide stepping-stones to open new career directions.
Ilya Nasrallah, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Women in Neuroradiology Leadership Award
Grant Recipient Year: 2019
(The RLI Summit) gave me tools for growing resiliency in the team for example; modelling good coping skills, praising effort and not just success, pointing out small victories, creating a learning environment where failures are accepted and giving the team members opportunities to be challenged … I will forever be indebted to the ASNR for giving me this incredible opportunity.
Achala Vagal, MD, MS
University of Cincinnati Medical Center
Research Scientist Award in Neuroradiology – Shruti Agarwal
Grant Recipient Year: 2019
Application of Artificial Intelligence for Presurgical Mapping of Motor Network in Dynamic Resting state MR Imaging of Patients with Focal Brain Lesions
This funding was essential to move forward in our highly novel research program in functional neuroimaging. My current research is focused on applying resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) to patients with brain tumors undergoing task-based fMRI-assisted neurosurgery for tumor removal. As generously supported by (Foundation of the) ASNR, we are developing a pipeline for real-time resting state fMRI using Artificial Intelligence methods to determine patterns of functional connectivity with reliable outcome.
Shruti Agarwal, PhD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Trainee Research Award in Neuroradiology – Mikell Yuhasz
Grant Recipient Year: 2018
It has been my goal to harness and optimize the technology of our field in order to provide more clinically meaningful and relevant imaging techniques and in the process, foster closer collaboration among clinicians and radiologists. The 2018 Trainee Research Award has been invaluable to my burgeoning research interests, allowing me the opportunity to pursue an idea with protected time…I have been inspired to more fully dedicate myself to research with newfound confidence in my abilities and ideas.
Mikell Yuhasz, MD
New York University Langone Medical Center
Scholar Award in Neuroradiology Research – Douglas Martin
Grant Recipient Year: 2018
The Foundation awards provide an invaluable resource for both new and established neuroradiologists to explore new ideas that will advance the science of radiology and allow us to better diagnose and treat disease. By supporting the Foundation, you foster these advances and help ensure that neuroradiology remains dynamic and innovative in the years to come.
Douglas Martin, MD
Stanford University, Noninvasive Neuromodulation in a Rat Model of Depression
Comparative Effectiveness Research Award -Akash Kansagra
Grant Recipient Year: 2018
Science of Systems of Care: Simulating Care Delivery and Patient-Centered Health Outcomes in Acute Ischemic Stroke
Recent clinical trials have proven the profound efficacy of interventional neuroradiology techniques… many questions remain about how to optimize countless variations in the delivery of this care. The grant I received from the (Foundation of the) ASNR is allowing me to study these questions using numerical simulations of stroke care in hundreds of thousands of patients. The findings of my work will help to address questions of how best to deliver this critical care while avoiding the time and expense of additional clinical trials.
Akash Kansagra, MD, MS
Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Research Scientist Award in Neuroradiology – Kevin Chen
Grant Recipient Year: 2018
I am grateful to the FASNR for this award…to pursue this impactful project and an opportunity to contribute to the extremely fast-moving field of artificial intelligence-aided neuroimaging. With generous support from the FASNR, the award will help me lay the foundation as I establish myself as an independent researcher, bridging the fields of engineering and neuroimaging.
Kevin Chen, PhD
Stanford University
Scholar Award in Neuroradiology Research – Hediyeh Baradaran
Grant Recipient Year: 2018
Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Progression and Subclinical Brain Ischemia, Brain Aging, and the Incidence of Dementia: Framingham Study
My findings have provided strong evidence for a link between the progression of carotid atherosclerosis and premature loss of hippocampal volume which supports targeting atherosclerotic change for prevention and treatment of cognitive dysfunction… the Scholar Award has shaped my future career plans and has laid the foundation for a hopefully long and productive career as an academic neuroradiologist. I will be forever grateful to the Foundation…and hope the FASNR continues to support the dreams of aspiring clinician scientists.
Hediyeh Baradaran, MD
Boston University Medical Center
Boerger Research Fund for Alzheimer’s Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders – Michael Zeineh
Grant Recipient Year: 2017
Iron-Based Neuroinflammation: A New Window to AD Pathology
The ASNR Boerger fund has had a very positive impact upon my research, lab, and career. The clinical implications are that we are evaluating the prospect of using quantitative measures of iron as an important factor in Alzheimer’s disease mechanism and prognosis. This funding has been a springboard for my research, and it has enabled me to successfully submit and receive a NIH R01.
Michael Zeineh, MD, PhD
Stanford University
Boerger Research Fund for Alzheimer’s Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders – Cyrus Raji
Grant Recipient Year: 2017
Diffusion MR Imaging based Edge Density Connectome Mapping for Prediction of Alzheimer’s Disease
My research, funded by the FASNR Boerger (Research) Fund for Alzheimer’s Disease, has allowed me to demonstrate the diagnostic utility of diffusion MRI in identifying persons who will develop Alzheimer’s Disease up to almost three years in advance…The FASNR grants ideally position junior investigators such as myself to apply for NIH grants…Continued support and donations to the FASNR ensures that junior faculty can be successful at establishing productive careers in academic neuroradiology.
Cyrus Raji, MD, PhD
University of California, San Francisco
Boerger Research Fund for Alzheimer’s Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders – Christopher G Filippi
Grant Recipient Year: 2017
Development of a Novel, Quantitative MR Imaging Biomarker of Glymphatic Flow for Alzheimer’s Disease
Receiving a grant from the Boerger Research Fund was critically important, as the quantitative MR imaging of glymphatic flow is a more experimental or “high risk/high reward” kind of grant that is unlikely to get funded through more traditional mechanisms. This funding is allowing us to get data for proof of concept and to gather necessary pilot data, so that we can apply for NIH funding. One of the most important missions of the Foundation of the ASNR is…to provide a critical lifeline of support to researchers at a time when securing extramural funding is increasingly difficult, especially for investigators who face increasing pressure to do more clinical work and relinquish academic days if those days are not funded by grants.
Christopher G Filippi, MD
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research