Jakob Asslaender, PhD

In line with my career trajectory from pure physics to radiology, my team and I study the physics of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the goal of translating advancements in physics into improvements in MRI technology—particularly for quantitative MRI. We tailor biophysical models and MRI data acquisition strategies to one another and the diagnostic question at hand. 

My research aims at the physical mechanisms behind MRI's contrast between tissue types and pathologies. Accordingly, my team and I study contrast mechanisms within clinical imaging protocols rather than controlled laboratory settings, which informs the biophysical models we develop. Due to the complexity of spin physics in biological tissue, we rely on effective models to approximate the MRI signal, where the imaging conditions shape the model simplifications. This interdependence is the centerpiece of my research: we adapt MRI methods and biophysical models to each other, enhancing MRI’s sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility—critical improvements for large-scale studies and artificial intelligence.

Our main focus is neuroimaging, but we also work on imaging organs beyond the brain. With collaborators, we translate our biophysical models and quantitative MRI methods to imaging multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, mild traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia, stroke, prenatal maternal brain plasticity, and osteoarthritis.