School of Health Sciences

Ulrike Dydak, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Phone: (765) 494-0550 Fax: (765) 496-1377 E-mail: udydak@purdue.edu Full directory listing

Education

Research: Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Dr. Dydak’s research is focused on the development of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) for the noninvasive in-vivo assessment of biologically important molecules in normal biochemical processes and the disruption of these molecules in human disease and disorders.  A long-term goal of this research is to translate the knowledge gained through the development and application of novel MRS methods into viable clinical diagnostic procedures that aid in disease detection as well as assessment of treatment response. Special emphasis of her work lies on the development of the in vivo detection and quantification of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter, to study manganese-induced parkinsonian neurotoxicity. A second focus lies on the development of whole-liver phosphorous (³¹P) magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging of the human liver to improve treatment monitoring in liver cancer. Dr. Dydak holds an adjunct appointment at the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at IU School of Medicine, where part of her research lab is located. Her current research topics comprise:

• Neuroimaging to study occupational manganese neurotoxicity
• Quantification of in vivo GABA measurements by MRS
• GABA mapping by MEGA spectroscopic imaging
• Fast 3D multi-nuclear MRSI (31P MRS) to monitor response to radiation treatment in the human liver
• High resolution 1H MRS in the rat brain

In collaboration with IU School of Medicine, she is currently involved in the following projects:

• Brain GABA changes in patients with panic disorder
• multi-channel 31P MRSI for the assessment of radiation treatment response in liver cancer
• metabolic changes in untreated patients with bipolar disorder
• 3D MRSI exploring metabolic changes after chemotherapy in breast cancer

Teaching

• HSCI 312 - Radiation Science Fundamentals (fall)
• HSCI 590 MRS - Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (spring, every other year)
• HSCI 690 – MRI Quality Assurance (Internship)

Honors and Credentials

• 2011 Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) Award, NIEHS
• 2011 Robert R. Landolt Excellence in teaching Award
• 2009 Molecular Imaging Travel Award, Radiological Society of Noth America (RSNA)
• 2008 Magna Cum Laude Award for Educational Exhibit, Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)

Grants

• NIH/NIEHS ONES R01 ES020529 (Dydak), Neuroimaging for Early Diagnosis of Manganese Toxicity in Humans and Rodents, 2011-2016
• NIH/NIEHS R21 ES017498 (Dydak), Effect of Manganese Exposure on GABA and Glutamate in Human Brain by MRS, 2009 - 2011
• American Egg Board (Campbell), Effect of increased egg-based protein intake on muscle composition, metabolic health and systemic inflammation in obese older adults, 2011-2012
• Indiana CTSI Core Pilot Funding (Dydak), In-Vivo GABA MRS of Metal Toxicity in the Human Brain, 2011-2012
• Indiana CTSI Core Pilot Funding (Dydak), Development of Fast GABA Mapping in the Human Brain, 2010-2011
• Indiana CTSI PDT Pilot Grant (Dydak/Sandrasegaran), 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy in liver cancer: Evaluation of response to yttrium-90 radio-embolization therapy, 2009-2012
• Indiana CTSI PDT Pilot Grant (Anand/Dydak), Neurochemistry of Mood Regulating Circuit in Bipolar Disorder: an Ultrafast Whole Brain Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) Study, 2009 - 2012
• Indiana CTSI CBR/CTR Pilot Grant (Goddard/Dydak), GABA Neurolnal Dysfunction in Panic Disorder: Assessing the Effect of Family History, 2009-2011

Representative Publications

Panda A, Jones S, Raghavan RS, Sandrasegaran K, Bansal N, Dydak U. Phosphorus Liver MRSI at 3T Using a Novel Dual Tuned 8-Channel ³¹P/¹H Coil. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2012. Epub Jan 27 2012 

Dydak U, Jiang YM, Long LL, Zhu H, Chen J, Li WM, Edden RAE, Hu S, Fu X, Long Z, Meier D, Harezlak J, Aschner M, Murdoch JB, Zheng W. In Vivo Measurement of Brain GABA Concentrations by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Smelters Occupationally Exposed to Manganese. Environ Health Perspect.119:219-224, 2011

Zheng W, Fu X, Dydak U, Cowan DM. Biomarkers of Manganese Intoxication. Neurotoxicology 32:1-8, 2011

Northoff G, Walter M, Schulte RF , Beck J, Dydak U, Henning A, Boeker H, Grimm S, Boesiger P. GABA concentration in the human anterior cingulate cortex predicts negative BOLD response in fMRI. Nature Neuroscience, 2007
 
Schoonman GG, Sandor PS, Nirkko AC, Lange T, Jaermann T, Dydak U, Kremer C, Ferrari MD, Boesiger P, Baumgartner RW. Hypoxia-induced acute mountain sickness is associated with intracellular cerebral edema: a 3T magnetic resonance imaging study. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab, advance online publication 23 May 2007.
 
Dydak U, Schär M. MR Spectroscopy and Spectroscopic Imaging: Comparing 3.0T versus 1.5T. Review Article. Neuroimaging Clin N Am 16(2):269-283 (2006).
 
Dydak U, Mueller S, Sandor PS, Meier D, Boesiger P, Jung HH. Cerebral Metabolic Alterations in McLeod Syndrome. Eur Neurol 56(1):17-23 (2006).
 
Dydak U, Meier D, Lamerichs R, Boesiger P. Trading Spectral Separation at 3T for Acquisition Speed in Multi Spin-Echo Spectroscopic Imaging. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 27(7):1441-6 (2006).
 
Lange T, Dydak U, Roberts TP, Rowley HA, Bjeljac M, Boesiger P. Pitfalls in Lactate Measurements at 3T. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 27(4):895-901 (2006).
 
Lange T, Trabesinger AH, Schulte RF, Dydak U, Boesiger P. Prostate spectroscopy at 3 Tesla using two-dimensional S-PRESS. Magn Reson Med. 56(6):1220-8 (2006).
 
Sandor PS, Dydak U, Schoenen J, Kollias SS, Hess K, Boesiger P, Agosti M. MR-Spectroscopic Imaging during visual stimulation in subgroups of migraine with aura, Cephalalgia 25(7):507-518 (2005).
 
Dydak U, Pruessmann KP, Weiger M, Tsao J, Meier D, Boesiger P. Parallel Spectroscopic Imaging with Spin-Echo Trains, Magn Reson Med. 50(1): 196-200 (2003).
 
Dydak U, Weiger M, Pruessmann KP, Meier D, Boesiger P. Sensitivity-Encoded Spectroscopic Imaging, Magn Reson Med. 46(4): 713-722 (2001).

Curriculum Vitae

Click here for a full CV for Ulrike Dydak. (an Adobe Acrobat file)