Dr. Andrea Kassner
Dr. Kassner’s lab uses quantitative MRI to interrogate the complex interplay between the various physiological parameters that maintain brain function. In particular, her lab is interested in the haemodynamic, metabolic, and structural mechanisms of cerebrovascular diseases in children with sickle cell disease, stroke, cerebral angiopathies and sleep disorders. Dr. Kassner also investigates pre-clinical models of these diseases and investigates effective treatment strategies. Her lab collaborates with researchers and clinicians from multiple disciplines such as neurology, radiology, physiology, biophysics, engineering, hematology and respirology.
In her previous studies on sickle cell disease, she measured cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) and pulse wave velocity using MRI in a cohort of pediatric sickle cell patients and demonstrated microvascular insufficiency in patients compared to controls. Furthermore, she assessed the relationship between microstructural properties of the white matter, and both CVR and CBF, as well as the effects of hydroxyurea in patients with sickle cell disease. In her current study she is investigating how compromised cerebrovascular function in sickle cell anemia contributes to cognitive impairment using MRI, MEG, and behavioral testing.
