I graduated from a Master’s in Physics in 2024, where I conducted final-year projects involving brain tumour analysis using DESI Imaging-Mass Spectrometry and respiratory motion correction in whole-body PET imaging using Siemens OncoFreeze AI. I am now a second-year PhD student, with a focus on neuroimaging, under the primary supervision of Professor Laura Parkes.
My PhD project ‘Advanced MRI Of Microvascular Dysfunction in Early Dementia’ is part of the All-In-One study, which aims to understand how vascular measures relate to cognition in participants with mild cognitive impairment. I use advanced MRI techniques—such as arterial spin labelling and quantitative susceptibility mapping—to study cerebral blood flow and oxygenation at rest and during a neural challenge. My objective is to determine whether baseline vascular metrics—cerebral blood flow, arterial transit time, oxygen extraction fraction, and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption—can predict cognitive decline in vascular dementia. I will also use retinal imaging to assess how vascular changes in the eyes reflect microvascular dysfunction in the brain.