ONGOING RESEARCH

Our PET methodology research supports translational collaborative research investigations.  Examples of these collaborations are listed to the side.  These include in vivo PET imaging studies of epigenetic enzymes that regulate gene expression (i.e., histone deacetylases, HDAC) in the brain in patients with Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, of increased expression of the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) as a marker of neuroinflammation in chronic pain, of mis-folded protein deposition (e.g., amyloid-beta plaques and tau aggregates) in healthy aging brain, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Down Syndrome (DS) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), and of alterations in glucose metabolism to better understand early risk factors for the development of Type 2 diabetes.  These projects offer exciting training opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and medical students, as well as post-doctoral fellows and faculty.