Cindy Tung / Dr. Susan Gauthier - Week 1

 Week 1: 6/5-6/9

I missed the first week of immersion in NYC as I was attending the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Conference in Toronto this week. At the conference, I presented my undergraduate research project at UC Berkeley under Michael Lustig on quantitative T1/T2 brain phantoms using UV-curable hydrogels. It was my first time attending a conference, and the entire meeting was very informative in helping me understand the state-of-the-art research happening in the field of MRI. The first two days were educational sessions, with clinicians and researchers from all over the world sharing knowledge and addressing challenges in imaging. The remaining four days of the conference consisted of talks, digital posters, power pitches, and other open discussion sections. I learned about many methods used to improve image resolution, using deep learning (DL) and AI for image reconstruction, and phantom designs to calibrate imaging standards. 

During my time there, I was able to meet up with my clinical mentor for this summer and discussed some of the research work that she does. Dr. Susan Gauthier is working on using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) for imaging lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). By using source separation to identify iron vs myelin, it is possible to measure and track the degree of inflammation and demyelination in patients. This summer, I hope to shadow radiologists in the reading room and see how these images help physicians diagnose patients with conditions. For research, I will be working with Dr. Susan and Dr. Thanh in Dr. Yi's lab to improve longitudinal source separation registration. 






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