VIBRANT

Biomedical NMR Unit, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

Working Group Leader

Assoc. Professor Uwe Himmelreich, PhD

The Biomedical NMR unit is headed by Prof. Himmelreich. The unit is part of the Molecular Small Animal Imaging Center (MoSAIC, infrastructure: small animal MRI, PET, BLI, CT, US) and the Department of Radiology (infrastructure includes six clinical MRI scanner at 1.5 and 3 Tesla). Prof Himmelreich’s group is equipped with a state of the art 9.4 Tesla small animal MRI scanner (multi-channel, heteronuclear MR imaging, MR microscopy equipment, dedicated coils for various rodents and organs, fully equipped for animal monitoring and support) and a NMR spectrometer (400MHz). The facility is equipped with a biosafety level 2 laboratory, animal surgery laboratories, animal housing and cell culture within MoSAIC. The Biomedical NMR unit consists of the head, one senior scientist, one post-doctoral fellow, four PhD students and two MSc students. It is the mission of MoSAIC to further develop multi-modal techniques for in vivo cell and molecular imaging in clinically relevant animal models. Prof. Himmelreich is associated with the Stem Cell Institute Leuven (SCIL), headed by Prof. C. Verfaillie. Among others, SCIL has a diabetes program working towards differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into insulin secreting cells (program leader Prof. C. Mathieu).

Recent key publication of relevance to the project:

• Hoehn M, Himmelreich U, et al, J. Magn. Reson. Imag. 27: 941-954 (2008).
• U. Himmelreich and M. Hoehn, Minimally Invasive Therapy and Allied Technologies (MITAT) 17: 132-142 (2008).
• Küstermann E, Himmelreich U et al., Contrast Media Mol. Imag. 3: 27-37 (2008).
• L. Dubois, T. Dresselaers, et al., Brit. J. Cancer 96: 758-761 (2007).
• M. Hoehn, D. Wiedermann, C. Justicia, P. Ramos-Cabrer, K. Kruttwig, T. Farr, U. Himmelreich, J. Physiol. 485: 25-30 (2007).
• H. Miletic, Y. Fischer, Litwak S, U. Himmelreich, Lange C, Stenzel W, Deckert M, Neumann H, Jacobs AH, von Laer D. et al., Molecular Therapy (2007);15:1373-1381.
• U. Himmelreich, S. Aime, T. Hieronymus, C. Justicia, F. Uggeri, M. Zenke and M. Hoehn, Neuroimage 32, 1142-1149 (2006).