The Translational Imaging Group (TIGr) is a rich mixture of engineers, clinicians, biologists, and mathematicians, ranging from early career scientists and graduate students to mature researchers with 30+ years of professional experience. We design, build, and test novel imaging methods, devices and materials that could become the medical imaging technologies of the future. Ongoing developments in our laboratories include:
Novel nanoparticle contrast agents for CT and MRI
Next-generation molecular imaging agents
Next-generation near-infrared imaging devices for optical deep-tissue imaging
Development of novel imaging agents and methods for low-field permanent magnet MRI
An underlying principle of TIGr is to first identify a medical need, usually in collaboration with a physician, and then pursue a novel technological solution to the associated problem. Formulating our projects in this manner allows us to always be responsive to a clinical need. TIGr is funded by multiple NIH grants, foundation grants and corporate contracts.
Recent TIGr projects following this paradigm, include:
Vascular heterogeneity and CSC distributions in neuroblastoma using novel contrast agents
Surgical planning using 3D printed models of anatomy
Vascular heterogeneity in MoyaMoya disease
Vascular and Molecular Imaging of the Placenta in Health and Disease
AI-enhanced diagnostics for COVID-19
Key recent publications
Patient-Specific Modeling Could Predict Occurrence of Pediatric Stroke. Horn JD, Johnson MJ, Starosolski Z, Meoded A, Milewicz DM, Annapragada A, Hossain SS. Front Physiol. 2022 Feb 28;13:846404. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.846404. eCollection 2022. PMID: 35295566 Free PMC article.
Lower skeletal muscle mass on CT body composition analysis is associated with adverse clinical course and outcome in children with COVID-19. Salman R, Sammer MB, Serrallach BL, Sangi-Haghpeykar H, Annapragada AV, Paul Guillerman R. Radiol Med. 2022 Feb 21:1-9. doi: 10.1007/s11547-022-01462-z. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35190968 Free PMC article.
1-Indanone and 1,3-indandione Derivatives as Ligands for Misfolded α-Synuclein Aggregates. Sun X, Admane P, Starosolski ZA, Eriksen JL, Annapragada AV, Tanifum EA. ChemMedChem. 2022 Jan 19;17(2):e202100611. doi: 10.1002/cmdc.202100611. Epub 2021 Nov 8. PMID: 34704363
Nanoprobes for Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Atherosclerosis Research. Ghaghada KB, Bhavane R, Badachhape A, Tanifum E, Annapragada A. Methods Mol Biol. 2022;2419:809-823. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1924-7_49. PMID: 35238003
Population stratification enables modeling effects of reopening policies on mortality and hospitalization rates. Huang T, Chu Y, Shams S, Kim Y, Annapragada AV, Subramanian D, Kakadiaris I, Gottlieb A, Jiang X. J Biomed Inform. 2021 Jul;119:103818. doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2021.103818. Epub 2021 May 20. PMID: 34022420 Free PMC article.
Building clinically relevant outcomes across the Alzheimer's disease spectrum. Rentz DM, Wessels AM, Annapragada AV, Berger AK, Edgar CJ, Gold M, Miller DS, Randolph C, Ryan JM, Wunderlich G, Zoschg MC, Trépel D, Knopman DS, Staffaroni AM, Bain LJ, Carrillo MC, Weber CJ. Alzheimers Dement (N Y). 2021 Jun 26;7(1):e12181. doi: 10.1002/trc2.12181. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34195350 Free PMC article.
A Nanoradiomics Approach for Differentiation of Tumors Based on Tumor-Associated Macrophage Burden. Starosolski Z, Courtney AN, Srivastava M, Guo L, Stupin I, Metelitsa LS, Annapragada A, Ghaghada KB. Contrast Media Mol Imaging. 2021 Jun 14;2021:6641384. doi: 10.1155/2021/6641384. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34220380 Free PMC article.
Esomeprazole enhances the effect of ionizing radiation to improve tumor control. Hebert KA, Jaramillo S, Yu W, Wang M, Veeramachaneni R, Sandulache VC, Sikora AG, Bonnen MD, Annapragada AV, Corry D, Kheradmand F, Pandita RK, Ludwig MS, Pandita TK, Huang S, Coarfa C, Grimm SL, Perera D, Miles G, Ghebre YT. Oncotarget. 2021 Jul 6;12(14):1339-1353. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.28008. eCollection 2021 Jul 6. PMID: 34262645 Free PMC article.