When
Monday, February 16, 2026 at 12:00 p.m.
Scott C. Beeman
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
School of Biological & Health Systems Engineering
School of Medicine and Medical Engineering
Arizona State University
"Probing Tissue Architecture and Metabolism with Quantitative MRI"
Location: Keating 103 | Zoom link
Hosts: Swarna Ganesh, Kellen Chen and Nan-kuei Chen
Abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is uniquely positioned to provide noninvasive, quantitative insight into tissue biology beyond conventional anatomical contrast. This presentation highlights emerging quantitative MRI approaches for probing tissue architecture and metabolism in vivo, with an emphasis on diffusion-based methods for microstructural characterization and deuterium (2H) MRI strategies for assessing pathway-level metabolism. I will broadly discuss the evolution of these techniques, how they can be used to estimate features such as cellular organization, tissue heterogeneity and metabolic activity, and how they may improve the mechanistic understanding of diseases like cancer, neurodegeneration and type 2 diabetes.
Bio: Scott Beeman's laboratory develops quantitative magnetic resonance (MRI and NMR) methods to measure tissue microstructure and metabolism in vivo. Specifically, the team integrates advanced diffusion MRI signal modelling, deuterium (2H) metabolic MRI, and oxygen sensitive MRI techniques to study neurodegenerative, metabolic and oncologic disease. These tools form the technical foundation of a current NCI R37 MERIT award on invasive glioma subtypes and funded studies in Alzheimer’s disease, tumor metabolism and type 2 diabetes.