Ivan I. Kirov, PhD

In the clinic, neurologists often encounter patients whose symptoms are not explained by their magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam. Such discordance between clinical and radiological findings is explained by the fact that a routine MRI does not reflect all aspects of brain health. For example, tissue which looks normal on MRI can have chemical imbalances that can be responsible for current symptoms or future disease. One way to image such biochemical or metabolic changes is through a technique called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). My research focuses on its use in neurological disorders, particularly in concussion/traumatic brain injury (TBI) and multiple sclerosis (MS). My work is done through departmental, institutional and international collaborations with physicians, physicists and other scientists, and currently includes the following four areas of investigation.

(1) My main current project, funded by the R01 mechanism of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is entitled “Quantitative sodium MR imaging and proton MR spectroscopy in traumatic brain injury” and is headed by me and my colleague Guillaume Madelin as co-Principal Investigators. The goal is to investigate the use of multimodal MRI and MRS for the prediction of long term TBI outcome.

(2) As part of the NYU Langone team, I am involved in a multi-site study on the effects of repetitive TBI in athletes. The NIH-funded project, “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: detection, diagnosis, course, and risk factors”, is led by Boston University and aims to develop methods for early detection and diagnosis of neurodegenerative pathology associated in part with repetitive TBI.

(3) In MS, my goal has been to characterize the temporal evolution of the metabolic changes occurring in early disease (within ~5 years of onset). This work is done in collaboration with my colleague Oded Gonen.

(4) Through a grant awarded by the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at NYU Langone, I study pre-clinical Alzheimer's Disease, in order to identify novel MRS markers and approaches, which can ultimately be used to improve the utility of imaging in the prediction and management of the disease.