Magnetic Resonance for Brain and Spinal Cord imaging and multimodal functional imaging

Résumé :
Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) is a tool of choice to study the central nervous system. Research in the field involves developing new equipment, new MR pulse sequences and new processing tools. Translational research involves implementing these new developments and evaluating them in the context of clinical research. I will present an overview of my contributions in the field of MR imaging for Multiple Sclerosis, in the brain and spinal cord as well as in the field of functional imaging, task-based fMRI and eventually multimodal imaging combining MRI with Electroencephalography (EEG) or Near Infrared Spectroscopy. Besides, I will touch upon multicenter imaging and data sharing which are key elements of reproducible research.

Short bio :
I was recruited in 2009 as MR Physics research engineer to take part in the creation of the Neurinfo MR facility. The project involved the University of Rennes 1, the University Hospital of Rennes, the Cancer research center, Inria and Inserm intitutes. It was led by Christian Barillot, head of the Empenn team, to support clinical and methodological research in the field of MRI with a major focus on the Central Nervous System.
I rapidly joined the research dynamic on multiple sclerosis (MS) imaging. My contributions ranged from study design to sequence optimization, multicenter protocol harmonization to conduct clinical imaging research studies, coordinating data collection and processing and developing collaborations. In parallel, I invested the field of task-based BOLD functional MRI. With clinicians and neuroscientists, we designed several tasks to study representation in space, 3D vision, inhibition, working memory, eating behavior as well as ad perception. Since 2014, we have expanded our field of research to multimodal functional applications with EEG-fMRI and, since 2019, Near Infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and MRI. Beside specific imaging projects, through my position as research engineer at Neurinfo, I provide support for multi-organs MRI clinical research studies ongoing at Neurinfo. Thereby, I was involved in the creation of a network for MRI clinical research named REMI, encouraging sharing of knowledge and multicenter imaging as well as in dealing with data management and data sharing, in particular through the Shanoir platform supported by Inria. Since 2020 I am also part of the board of the French society for MRI (SFRMBM).