Udunna Anazodo

There is a clear link between heart disease and neurodegeneration, specifically in ischemic conditions. Coronary artery disease patients for example have been shown to present with cognitive impairment, akin to the impairments seen in mild cognitive impairment - prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease. What is the pathophysiological link? There is emerging evidence that neuroinflammation in the form of sustained microglial activation could be a critical part of the core link between heart disease and accelerated cognitive aging. This talk will showcase preclinical and clinical studies using PET/MRI to link inflammation in the heart and brain and highlight lingering gaps in our understanding of this deleterious association.

Udunna Anazodo, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, is also a member of the Neuroimaging and Neuroinformatics research group at The Neuro. She joined The Neuro from the Lawson Health Research Institute inLondon, Ontario where she was Assistant Professor of Medical Biophysics. Udunna’s research at The Neuro focuses on intelligent PET imaging for mapping brain health: from molecules to mind. Her lab combines positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to provide a multimodal imaging approach for detecting subtle and early changes in brain function, physiology and neurochemistry. Her current focus is on the optimization of next-generation ultra-high-resolution PET imaging systems to permit molecular brain imaging with unprecedented spatial precision and sensitivity. Over the next five years, they will develop leading-edge intelligent PET image reconstruction and image analysis tools that leverage advances in machine learning to enable brain imaging in clinical populations at ultra-high spatial resolution and unmatched sensitivity.

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