Stephen Kadlecek
Assistant Professor
Research Interests:
My research interests are in the development of imaging techniques to probe organ structure and function, with particular emphasis on the use of hyperpolarized nuclear magnetic resonance. My graduate study and subsequent work in industry was primarily with hyperpolarized gases (3He and 129Xe), methods to achieve and maintain nuclear alignment, and use of the gases in probing lung microstructure and oxygen content. More recently, I have begun to look at the use of injectable, 13C-labeled hyperpolarized agents and their utility in identifying disorders of metabolism. Because 13C nuclei experience a discernable frequency shift after a chemical reaction, an examination of local changes in the resonance frequency of the hyperpolarized agent can be used to quantitatively determine metabolic rates, and these rates can be imaged. Our focus is on the poorly understood metabolic changes in the lung in disease or conditions of oxidative stress, but we also perform experimental studies of altered metabolism in heart, liver and brain, and of the greatly accelerated metabolic processes in cancer.