Mātai Internship Applications Open |
Mātai summer internship applications are now open. See more on last year's internship programme.
We're incredibly grateful to the QUEST Foundation, who have generously donated $715K to sponsor a research and education space in the upcoming Mātai building. This funding will also provide scholarships and internships to Gisborne Girls' High School (GGHS) students.
We've had some wonderful news stories over the past few months. Special thanks go to Tess McClure at the Guardian, Kiri Gillespie at the Bay of Plenty Times, RNZ, and all those involved; including Hannah Gross, Tuta Ngarimu, and Cohen Irwin. Hannah and Cohen shared very personal stories related to their involvement in Mātai research.
The Mātai team continues to grow, and this month we welcome Wendy Mohi, Alison Barclay, and Jack Kells to the Mātai team. Maryam Tayebi is now a PhD doctor of Bioengineering, having finished 3 dedicated years on concussion imaging research work. We also congratulate Bree Allan, Mātai Marketing and Administration Assistant for graduating from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Commerce.
In June, the Mātai team attended the 2023 ISMRM (International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine) conference in Toronto, and visited research collaborators in the USA, which enabled us to make significant strides in our research and establish invaluable connections within the scientific community.
We would like to congratulate Adil Imran, University of Auckland, for receiving the Research Prize - To reward and recognise excellence in research in the field of Medical Imaging in the 2022 Bachelor of Medical Imaging (Honours) programme at the University of Auckland, for his project "Investigating the sensitivity of 3D amplified MRI to the global amplification factor". He was mentored by Dr Haribalan Kumar (Mātai, GE Healthcare, and Auckland Bioengineering Institute) and Dr Samantha Holdsworth.
At Healthtech Week 2023 Mātai Principal Investigator Gina Waters presented on the Role of Fidgeting on Executive Functioning in ADHD, and Dr Eryn Kwon presented a demonstration of how instrumented mouthguard data is collected and used as part of the Mātai mTBI rugby study. Congratulations also to Ms Julia Imo (part of the Mātai, Turanga Health, and Auckland Bioengineering Institute whānau) who presented as part of the 'connecting Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa communities to improve healthcare and make a real difference'. Her endeavour to uplift the healthcare experiences for the Pacific communities in rural area at times of crisis such as the cyclone Gabrielle was very well received by the conference attendees.
Congratulations to Alireza Sharifzadeh-Kermani and Dr Gonzalo Maso Talou at ABI for organising an inaugural amplified MRI (aMRI) workshop.
We love opportunities to connect to our local students. A small group of Campion High School students visited the Mātai office and MRI facility to learn more about what we do at Mātai. PhD candidate Ben Bristow spoke at Gisborne Boys' High School. Ben, and Jet Wright spoke at Te Hapara school, where they showed the kids how the brain works and how to keep it healthy. A big shout out to Susannah and Paul Robinson. Susannah is part the Friends of Mātai team, and doing a tremendous amount of work to help raise awareness and funding for Mātai. Susannah and Paul also signed up recently as Mātai Platinum Supporters. |
Top image: Mātai whānau at Pouawa Beach, Tūranganui a Kiwa observing Matariki. |
Left to right: Alison Barclay, Anne Pardoe, and Dr Samantha Holdsworth are pictured among the framing of the sponsored research and education space. Former GGHS student and 2022 Mātai Intern, Sabine Lapointe, has her artwork gifted by the Trust to Gisborne Girls' High School, recognising the Trust's longstanding affiliation with the school. |
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The team visited sites in the U.S.A and Canada, including Stanford University, University of Washington, Robarts Institute at Western University in Canada, and GE Research in New York.
The International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Imaging (ISMRM) Conference is the global conference for MRI technology, where universities and institutions across the globe present new developments in MRI. Mātai presented 14 collaborative scientific conference articles on new cutting edge ideas and research -- an extraordinary number for a small team. Mātai also gave two keynote / invited talks, and was thrilled to spend quality time with Mātai Scientific Advisory Board member Emeritus Professor Graeme Bydder.
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Hosted by Dr Thomas (Tom) Foo and his team, Mātai had the opportunity to tour the GE research and engineering labs, founded by Thomas Edison, where they learned about the latest scientific and engineering advances in imaging technology. Dr Holdsworth said "It was amazing to be at the site where so many important engineering contributions were made including in power generation, superconductivity, jet engines, and CT and MRI imaging technologies". Alongside Dr Tom Foo and his team, Mātai researchers were lucky to be able to scan with the formidable new MAGNUS gradients which push the limits of MRI. Watch this space for state-of-the-art images acquired from this machine. A special thanks to Tom and the GE Research team for organising the visit.
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Mātai was thrilled to be able to spend time with several wonderful international friends and colleagues in Toronto as featured here at a team lunch. Left to right: Paul Condron (Mātai Charge MRI Tech), A/Prof Salil Soman (Harvard University, Mātai affiliate), A/Prof Samantha Holdsworth (Mātai Director), Emeritus Professor Graeme Bydder (UCSD; and Mātai Scientific Advisory Board), Stu Potter (StardustME CEO), Dr Eryn Kwon (Mātai Senior Research Fellow), Leigh Potter (Mātai COO), Dr Daniel Cornfeld (Mātai Clinical Lead).
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Celebrating Matariki with kaumātua |
We enjoyed a lovely Matariki celebration with the kaumātua, as part of Turanga Health's kaumātua programme. Thank you for having us! See Turanga Health's Facebook post about the programme below: "This month's Kaumātua Programme, centred around Matariki - Matariki Kāinga Hokia, was a star studded event with very special guest speakers and an unforgettable live performance by Dennis Marsh. A very special thank you to our guest speakers: -
Local historian and pūrakau expert Nick Tupara who presented a beautiful kōrero about the meaning of each of the stars within Matariki.
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Followed up by an informative session led by Leigh Potter and Dr Samantha Holdsworth of @Mātai Medical Research Institute about their world leading research into brain health and their mahi within our community."
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MRI-informed computational model for non-invasive detection of brain pressure |
Mātai and the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI) have been awarded an HRC grant to build on work being done on their Marsden Foundation project, to further develop and apply a non-invasive clinical tool to measure brain pressure to reduce unnecessary and invasive surgery. This research has the potential to revolutionise the management of patients with suspected intracranial hypertension and other diseases related with abnormal brain pressure levels.
Raised intracranial pressure (ICP), brain pressure, is a common problem with serious consequences if left untreated. Primary symptoms include headache, vision loss, and pulsatile tinnitus, and are recognised to have profound impacts on quality of life and visual function. Clinical management is hampered by the lack of a reliable, non-invasive technique to determine if ICP is elevated. At present, intracranial hypertension can only be confidently diagnosed through invasive procedures. Thus, there is a significant clinical need for non-invasive and quantitative measures of ICP.
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A big thanks to Alireza Sharifzadeh-Kermani and Dr Gonzalo Maso Talou from the Animus Lab (computational neurodynamic modelling at ABI) for organising an inaugural amplified MRI (aMRI) workshop, and to Jet Wright (Mātai/ABI PhD student) for assisting with Mātai logistics. The event was attended by 45 scientists, clinicians, researchers, and engineers. The workshop included talks by pioneers of aMRI: Associate Professor Samantha Holdsworth (Mātai/FMHS/CBR), Itamar Terem (Stanford University), and Associate Professor Mehmet Kurt (University of Washington); a live aMRI demo session by Paul Condron (Mātai Charge MRI technologist); live image processing demo session by Dr Hari Kumar (Mātai GE Healthcare Scientist); talks on theories behind brain motion by Gonzalo; clinical applications by Associate Professor Miriam Scadeng; and a talk by Professor Poul Nielson on subvox (a super-accurate image registration method developed by Paul and his team).
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Above: Amplified MRI showing the amplification of brain motion as the heart beats. Further information can be found here: Holdsworth et al. MRM, 2016; Terem et al. MRM 2018; Terem et al. MRM 2021; Abderezaei et al. Brain Multiphysics, 2021. |
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Synthetic MRI Generation from CT Scans for Stroke Patients |
A team involving Jake McNaughton, Alan Wang, Vickie Shim, Ben Chong, Samantha Holdsworth, and Justin Fernandez shared a prepublished paper that outlines effective ways to create synthetic MRI quality images from CT scans, opening up potential opportunities to better diagnose a stroke in cases where MRI is not unavailable or accessible.
CT scans are the most common imaging modality used for suspected stroke patients due to their short acquisition time and wide availability. However, MRI provides better quality images. In this study, eight deep learning models were developed, trained, and tested using a dataset of 181 CT/MR pairs of images from stroke patients. The resultant synthetic MRIs generated by these models are compared through a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods. The synthetic MRIs enable the segmentation of white matter, grey matter, and cerebrospinal fluid using algorithms designed for MRIs, exhibiting a high degree of similarity to true MRIs.
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🔬 Introducing our Amplified MRI research package |
We are currently seeking MRI research sites worldwide that utilise GE scanners to participate in testing our cutting-edge amplified MRI (aMRI) package. This innovative technology is designed to visualise pulsate brain and spinal cord motion. aMRI holds promising applications for conditions like Chiari Malformation, hydrocephalus, Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, and other disorders that may affect the physiology of the brain and spinal cord. With a 1mm isotropic resolution, aMRI enables whole brain coverage in approximately 2 minutes. aMRI shows potential for testing in other body imaging applications. Our customisable package seamlessly integrates into GE MRI systems. For more information, please visit the below link and reach out to us at Haribalan.Kumar@ge.com.
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The methamphetamine brain recovery pilot project combines the expertise of community leaders with the power of advanced imaging technology to help people on their journey to recovery. |
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'Life-changing' work gives Hannah hope |
From the age of 2 years old, Hannah Gross' hidden brain injuries have shaped a lifetime of silent struggles, courage and remarkable resilience. Kiri Gillespie shares Hannah's story, which describes how her experience with Dr Gil Newburn at Mātai has helped give her hope. See story in the Gisborne Herald, or (with subscription) Bay of Plenty Times and the New Zealand Herald.
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Leigh Potter (Mātai COO) and Jet Wright (PhD Candidate), talk about inspiring tech careers in Tairāwhiti. |
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Study hopes for meth impact reversal |
Tuta Ngarimu and Associate Professor Miriam Scadeng spoke on Nine to Noon about the Mātai Meth Recovery programme. |
Image of the Future - 23/24 Nov 2023 |
SAVE THE DATE! Join us in November for our mini-symposium Image of the Future event. The event expands on the planned February event that was cancelled due to Cyclone Gabrielle. Hosts include representation from Mātai, Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI), Centre for Brain Research (CBR), and Department of Anatomy & Medical Imaging (FMHS). This event will happen over two full days, split into two segments: science & community. Watch this space for updates, registration information, speaker announcements, and more. Partial funding support comes from an HRC Ngā Kanohi Kitea project grant and a Royal Society Te Apārangi Marsden grant -- and we are seeking additional sponsors for this event. |
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We would like to acknowledge, with appreciation, our supporters who made the establishment of Mātai possible, including Kānoa - RDU, Trust Tairāwhiti, the Mangatawa Beale Williams Memorial Trust, the JN and HB Williams Foundation, the University of Auckland, GE Healthcare, Dame Bronwen and Dr Peter Holdsworth Trust, Pultron Composites Limited, Hugh Green Foundation, the Lotteries Significant Projects Fund, Fred Lewis Enterprise Foundation, the QUEST Trust, local iwi, and many others.
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Copyright © 2023 Mātai Medical Research Institute Inc. All rights reserved.
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PO Box 359 Gisborne, 4040 New Zealand |
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