Seminars/Colloquia/Invited Talks

Seminars

Elizabeth Aylward

Manual and semi-automated measurement of striatum on MRI: Potential application in Huntington's Disease clinical trials

PLACE:	Clark 314
EVENT:	CIS Seminar Series
DATE:	May 9, 2006
TIME:	1:00 - 2:00

Abstract

The striatum is the region of the brain that is most affected in Huntington's disease, an autosomal dominant nuerodegenerative disorder characterized by involuntary motor movements, cognitive decline, and functional impairments. The gene mutation for HD was discovered in 1993, and offspring of parents with HD can now determine whether or not they have the mutation and will eventually succomb to the illness. The striatum, as measured on MRI scans, is approximately half of normal volume at the time of symptom onset, usually in the patient's 40's or 50's.
Although there is currently no effective treatment for HD, clinical trials are underway in symptomatic HD and will soon start in presymptomatic HD. This presentation will discuss the potential use of striatal volume as a biomarker for assessing treatment effectiveness in presymptomatic HD. Reliable, valid, and efficient methods of measuring the striatum are needed in order for his measurement to be used practically in clinical trials. Semi-automated methods, developed by CIS, will be compared with manual methods for measuring strial volumes on MRI.

Brief biography

Dr. Aylward received her B.S. from Vanderbilt University in 1973 and her Ph.D. in 1982 from Cornell University. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of Washington and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavorial Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Aylward's research focuses on the use of brain imaging with structural and functional MRI (fMRI) to determine what abnormalities characterize various neuropsychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and neurodegenerative disorders in human development. She is also interested in determining interventional applications that can improve the quality of life of children with specific disabilities.