Biography
Dr. Posse is a tenured Professor in the University of New Mexico’s Department of Neurology and Director of Human MR Imaging Research Laboratory. He has a secondary appointment in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, serves as a member of the UNM Cancer Center and holds an affiliate professorship at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. He has more than 30 years of experience in biomedical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research at research centers in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark. Dr. Posse is known for his pioneering work in developing real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and high-speed magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) for applications in Neuroscience and Clinical Research. His research interest is to develop novel diagnostic MRI methods for characterizing human brain function and physiology with the goal of improving individualized treatment strategies and prognosis based upon patient specific functional brain mapping. His current NIH funded research is focused on advancing presurgical mapping in patients with brain tumors and epilepsy. He serves on NIH study sections and collaborates with national and international research groups. His training of students, fellows, residents, junior faculty and staff prepares them for successful careers in academia and industry.
Personal Statement
My research interest is to develop novel diagnostic MRI methods for characterizing human brain function and physiology. The ultimate goal is to improve individualized treatment strategies and prognosis based upon patient specific functional brain mapping. I am a tenured Professor in the University of New Mexico’s Department of Neurology with more than 30 years of experience in biomedical MR research at institutions in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark. I am a member of the University of New Mexico Cancer Center and hold a secondary appointment in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico. In addition, I hold an affiliate faculty position in the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. I pioneered real-time functional MRI and high-speed MR spectroscopic imaging, which is known as Proton-Echo-Planar-Spectroscopic-Imaging (PEPSI). My NIH funded research is focused on the development of real-time functional MRI (fMRI) and high-speed MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) for applications in cancer research, neurology and psychiatry.
Areas of Specialty
MR physics, human cancer research, human neuroscience research, technology development of real-time functional MRI (fMRI) and high-speed MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) for applications in neuroscience, cancer research, neurology and psychiatry.
Achievements & Awards
Distinguished reviewer, 2017 - 2019, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
National Inventors Day Celebration, 2010, Albuquerque, NMFinalist Young Investigator Award, 1994, 1st Annual Meeting, Society of Magnetic Resonance, San Francisco, CA
Fogarty Fellowship, 1991-1994, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Membership in Phi Beta Delta International Honor Society, 1987 - 1995, Gainesville University, Gainesville, FL
Scholarship, 1987-1992, Swiss National Science Foundation, Berne, Switzerland
Scholarship, 1986 - 1988, Richard Winter Foundation, Cologne, Germany
Gender
Male
Languages
- English
- German
- French
- Italian
- Spanish
Courses Taught
Since 2004: Interdisciplinary MRI physics course (3 credit hours): Advanced Topic Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy . The course is cross-listed in the Departments of Physics and Astronomy, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering and Nuclear Engineering. It is also open to students and postdoctoral researchers in Mathematics and Statistics, Chemistry, Medical Physics and related fields, and interested students in the School of Medicine.
Research and Scholarship
1. My early publications as a graduate student were focused on method development in MR spectroscopy and MRI. I performed the first spectroscopic imaging experiment in a single cell (xenopus oocyte), developed a theoretical and experimental approaches to quantify susceptibility related image distortion and signal dephasing in MRI, and characterized the BOLD effect in ischemic rat kidney using an implanted RF coil. As a postdoc, I performed the first diffusion spectroscopy experiment in human brain. We recently developed diffusion tensor spectroscopic imaging to measure age related changes in metabolite diffusion in young children and adults.
2. My subsequent career as a postdoc was focused on developing spectroscopic imaging methodology in human brain, including short echo time spectroscopic imaging in patients with brain tumors and multiple sclerosis and proton echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (PEPSI). In recent years, echo-planar based spectroscopic imaging has been widely adopted in the research community and my lab was continued acceleration by integrating various forms of parallel imaging into echo-planar spectroscopic imaging, including SENSE, GRAPPA and Superresolution parallel magnetic resonance imaging, culminating in the development of single-shot PEPSI. Recently, we integrated PEPSI with fMRI in a hybrid acquisition method that has the potential to significantly reduce scan time and extend neuroscience research and clinical applications through concurrent quantitative MRSI and fMRI acquisitions.
3. In the late 90s, I investigated metabolic and physiological changes during respiratory challenges using the PEPSI methods, quantitative functional MRI and O15-Butanol PET, including increases in brain lactate, and dependence of stimulus induced BOLD contrast and blood flow changes on baseline blood flow. We documented the increase in the width of the stimulus induced BOLD response with increasing baseline blood flow.
4. In the mid-90s I started the development real-time functional MRI, initially using a supercomputer to perform online model fitting to the measured BOLD response and to generate a 3D virtual reality display of brain activation. In subsequent applications, I demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring amygdala activation in real-time during mood induction, and mapping language related brain activation in real-time in response to generating a single word. Subsequently my laboratory developed online aggregation pattern classifiers, using boosting and partial least squares.
5. In a complementary line of research, my laboratory investigated the biophysical basis of the BOLD effect using analytical modeling, multi-echo fMRI acquisition and ultra-high-speed fMRI. This led to a method to compensate magnetic field inhomogeneity using interleaved shim gradients inserted into a multi-echo acquisition. More recently, we demonstrated the feasibility of mapping high frequency resting state connectivity using analytical modeling of Rician image noise to assess the significance of observed high frequency fluctuations.
6. We recently applied the developed real-time fMRI and high speed MRSI technology in clinical research studies, including presurgical mapping in patients with brain tumors, monitoring of the treatment response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer, pediatric patients with OCD, and in patients with epilepsy.