Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS) researcher Jennifer Watchmaker was recently awarded the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Trainee Research Prize for her abstract submission, “Detection of Elevated Whole-Brain Oxygen Extraction Fraction (OEF) in Patients with Intracranial Stenosis using Non-Invasive MRI.”
A student in the Medical Scientist Training Program, Watchmaker collaborated with radiology faculty members Manus Donahue, Ph.D., principal investigator, and Taylor Davis, M.D., as well as post-doctoral fellow Meher Juttukonda, Ph.D, to assess hemodynamic compensation mechanisms using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with intracranial stenosis.
“Using non-invasive MRI methods, we examined cerebral blood flow, cerebrovascular reactivity and oxygen extraction fraction in patients with intracranial stenosis,” said Watchmaker. “The main finding of this cross-sectional study, which is part of a larger imaging clinical trial (VAMMPRIS) run at Vanderbilt, was that the OEF, the ratio of oxygen consumed to oxygen delivered, is elevated in patients with intracranial stenosis with prior stroke/TIA, and this MRI measurement could be a biomarker of recurrent stroke risk/impairment in this population.”
In the coming months, Watchmaker will continue to analyze longitudinal data from the VAMMPRIS trial, which will determine if markers of hemodynamic compensation including cerebral blood flow and oxygen extraction fraction are dynamic over time and change following medical or surgical intervention.
“We are also currently collecting data on patients with intracranial stenosis due to moyamoya pre- and post-surgical revascularization with the help of Vanderbilt neurosurgeon Matthew Fusco, M.D.,” said Watchmaker. “The ultimate goal is to understand the relationship between these markers and interval stroke risk, such that the most aggressive treatments can be prescribed to patients at highest stroke risk.”
Watchmaker’s research was selected among all medical student, resident and fellow submissions to the neuroradiology section at RSNA. She will give an oral presentation and be formally presented with a $1,000 check and award at the RSNA 102nd Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting in Chicago during the Neuroradiology (Stroke Imaging) session on Tuesday, November 29, at 10:30 a.m.
