693543 event 1793116818 1793116853 Phuong Vu
BME PhD Proposal Presentation

Date: 2026-11-09
Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Location / Meeting Link: N147 - HSRB II / https://emory.zoom.us/j/98915968199

Committee Members:
Xiaofeng Yang, PhD; Shella Keilholz, PhD; Allan Levey, MD, PhD; Liang Zhao, PhD; Deqiang Qiu, PhD (Advisor)


Title: Quantitative Analysis of the Locus Coeruleus in Alzheimer's Disease Using Multimodal MRI

Abstract:
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects an estimated 416 million people worldwide across its continuum, with most individuals in preclinical or prodromal stages. This means that the vast majority of people on the AD continuum are in the early stages where the pathology accumulates before substantial functional impairments. The locus coeruleus (LC), the brain’s principal source of norepinephrine (NE), is among the earliest regions affected by tau pathology in AD and plays a central role in regulating cognition, arousal, and brain-network function. Neuromelanin-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (NM-MRI) enables noninvasive assessment of the LC, offering a promising biomarker of disease-related changes and an anatomical reference for multimodal imaging. However, prolonged acquisition times and limited availability of NM-MRI in large neuroimaging cohorts constrain its broader application. This dissertation aims to improve the accessibility and reliability of NM-MRI of the LC through deep learning (DL) and characterize the LC–NE system’s response to pharmacological noradrenergic modulation in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We develop DL frameworks to overcome key limitations in LC imaging, enabling accelerated NM-MRI acquisition that preserves LC contrast-based imaging biomarkers and extending LC localization to routinely acquired structural MRI through generative synthesis. Beyond conventional image quality metrics, these methods are evaluated for their ability to capture disease-related differences and support individualized LC localization for functional and diffusion MRI analyses. We further employ a multimodal approach to characterize the effects of noradrenergic modulation on LC contrast, functional connectivity, and neurofluid-associated physiology, integrating these imaging measures with AD-related biomarkers and cognitive function to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the LC-NE system. Together, these efforts aim to broaden and advance the use of LC imaging in clinical research while providing new insights into the structural and functional responses of the LC-NE system to noradrenergic modulation in MCI. These advances can facilitate the development of imaging biomarkers and support the evaluation of emerging therapeutic strategies for AD. 

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