MENTAL MAPS

Through the generosity of donors and a partnership with UF Health Shands Hospital, the team at the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health recently added some important tools to their imaging arsenal with the unveiling of The Dorothy Mangurian Neuroimaging Suite. Officially opened in May, the 15,000-square-foot addition features four new specialized imaging machines, including two 3 Tesla MRI machines, a PET-CT machine and a magnetoencephalography, or MEG, scanner.

The MEG scanner works by measuring magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain. It allows researchers like MEG lab director Abbas Babajani-Feremi, PhD, to help surgeons prepare for epilepsy-related surgery by pinpointing the exact location in the brain causing seizures. Additionally, the MEG scanner will advance research in various neurological disorders, such as brain tumors, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

The neuroimaging suite is complemented by additional spaces in the same building that include 10 rooms assigned for clinical trial use, as well as various research areas, designated as the clinical research suite.

“The new neuroimaging equipment and research suites will allow us to visualize the brain in ways we hadn’t previously imagined,” says Michael Okun, MD ’96, executive director of the Fixel Institute. “We can dramatically increase the capacity of trials we can offer and the number of patients we can reach.”

After an initial grant from The Harry T. Mangurian Jr. Foundation, the project attracted more than 20 donors who contributed funds for the construction of the new Mangurian Suite and its imaging equipment, with gifts totaling $20 million. As well as providing clinical imaging to more patients, the new Mangurian Suite and the clinical research suite will mean an increase in staffing, including four new AI-dedicated researchers.

“Along with the focused AI initiative at the University of Florida, the addition of the new neuroimaging suite, several new world-class clinicians and researchers and MEG technology — one of only four in the Southeast — will help solidify the Fixel Institute and UF Health as world leaders in transformational care and research for complex neurological disorders,” says Kelly Foote, MD, co-director of the Fixel Institute.