MBI Webinar on preclinical research into brain tumours and neurodegenerative disorders
WEBINAR 1 Breaking the barrier: Using focused ultrasound for the development of targeted therapies for brain tumours presented by Dr Ekaterina (Caty) Salimova, Monash Biomedical Imaging Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) - brain cancer - is aggressive and difficult to treat as systemic therapies are hindered by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Focused ultrasound (FUS) - a non-invasive technique that can induce targeted temporary disruption of the BBB – is a promising tool to improve GBM treatments. In this webinar, Dr Ekaterina Salimova will discuss the MRI-guided FUS modality at MBI and her research to develop novel targeted therapies for brain tumours. Dr Ekaterina (Caty) Salimova is a Research Fellow in the Preclinical Team at Monash Biomedical Imaging. Her research interests include imaging cardiovascular disease and MRI-guided focused ultrasound for investigating new therapeutic targets in neuro-oncology. - WEBINAR 2 Disposition of the Kv1.3 inhibitory peptide HsTX1[R14A], a novel attenuator of neuroinflammation presented by Sanjeevini Babu Reddiar, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences The voltage-gated potassium channel (Kv1.3) in microglia regulates membrane potential and pro-inflammatory functions, and non-selective blockade of Kv1.3 has shown anti-inflammatory and disease improvement in animal models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Therefore, specific inhibitors of pro-inflammatory microglial processes with CNS bioavailability are urgently needed, as disease-modifying treatments for neurodegenerative disorders are lacking. In this webinar, PhD candidate Ms Sanju Reddiar will discuss the synthesis and biodistribution of a Kv1.3-inhibitory peptide using a [64Cu]Cu-DOTA labelled conjugate. Sanjeevini Babu Reddiar is a PhD student at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. She is working on a project identifying the factors governing the brain disposition and blood-brain barrier permeability of a Kv1.3-blocking peptide.
Cross-modality imaging of the neural systems that support executive functions
Executive functions refer to a collection of mental processes such as attention, planning and problem solving, supported by a frontoparietal distributed brain network. These functions are essential for everyday life. Specifically in the context of patients with brain tumours there is a need to preserve them in order to enable good quality of life for patients. During surgeries for the removal of a brain tumour, the aim is to remove as much as possible of the tumour and at the same time prevent damage to the areas around it to preserve function and enable good quality of life for patients. In many cases, functional mapping is conducted during an awake surgery in order to identify areas critical for certain functions and avoid their surgical resection. While mapping is routinely done for functions such as movement and language, mapping executive functions is more challenging. Despite growing recognition in the importance of these functions for patient well-being in recent years, only a handful of studies addressed their intraoperative mapping. In the talk, I will present our new approach for mapping executive function areas using electrocorticography during awake brain surgery. These results will be complemented by neuroimaging data from healthy volunteers, directed at reliably localizing executive function regions in individuals using fMRI. I will also discuss more broadly challenges ofß using neuroimaging for neurosurgical applications. We aim to advance cross-modality neuroimaging of cognitive function which is pivotal to patient-tailored surgical interventions, and will ultimately lead to improved clinical outcomes.