Aisling Chaney, PhD

Assistant Professor of Radiology

Precision Radiotheranostics Translational Center (PRTC), Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR)

Key words:

pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation, CNS immune responses, myeloid cell responses, biomedical imaging

Research:

The emerging role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases is shifting the way we think about diagnosing and treating these conditions. Unfortunately, current approaches to probe immune function in vivo are limited. The Chaney Lab focuses on developing and evaluating novel imaging biomarkers to investigate the inflammatory component of neurodegenerative diseases – an area at the interface of neuroscience, radiology, and immunology. The overall goal is to enhance understanding of the immune system’s role in neurodegenerative diseases and thus improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Specifically, we are interested in defining the role of peripheral and central nervous system (CNS) immune responses and their spatiotemporal relationship in neurodegeneration, with a specific focus on myeloid cell responses (e.g. microglia, macrophages, neutrophils, monocytes, dendritic cells). The Chaney lab is currently investigating ImmunoPET radiotracers for imaging Alzheimer’s disease (AD), multiple sclerosis (MS), stroke, and glioblastoma – not only in the early stages of disease but also for monitoring disease progression and assessing promising therapeutics.

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