Michael Knopp, MD, PhD 

In the past three years, Michael Knopp, MD, PhD, has been awarded state grants totaling more than $21 million for research destined to make dramatic strides in biomedical imaging.

Knopp’s research in new imaging technologies stimulates innovation in many medical disciplines, including oncology, cardiovascular care and neuroscience. His grants are helping to: create a clinical ultra-high-field 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system for imaging biological processes; develop more powerful positron emission tomography (PET) systems for better understanding disease processes and treatments; and devise and evaluate capabilities in whole body and ultra-high resolution imaging.

Knopp and colleagues are also exploring a new realm of imaging called functional MRI to perform “virtual biopsies,” or biological profiles of tumors that may help predict cancer patients’ responses to treatment.

Professor and chair of the OSU Department of Radiology, Knopp says functional MRI shows biological information that standard X-rays do not, such as angiogenesis (blood vessel formation), permeability (leakiness) of a tumor’s support system, and a tumor’s interior landscape. “Analyzing data from these images can help us better classify disease and see early whether therapies are effective or not,” he adds, noting that many questions must be answered about the emerging field of functional MRI as it is introduced into clinical care.

While X-rays can reveal information about a tumor’s size and shape, that information alone is not enough to help physicians tailor new treatments, says Knopp, who also holds the Novartis Chair for Imaging Research at OSU. “It’s not what we see, but what we don’t see that may be more important,” he explains.

In functional MRI, images are made by measuring minute radio waves produced when hydrogen atoms in the body are trapped and vibrate within a magnetic field. The varying intensity of the signal reveals structural features and biological patterns illuminated by injected contrast agents. Using this method, Knopp and colleagues are studying breast, prostate and pancreatic tumors to see whether some of their biological quirks are related to treatment response and survival.

“Analyzing data from functional MRI images can help us see where some chemotherapies are
effective and others are not,” he says. “We know, for example, that in many cases chemotherapy may kill 70 or 80 percent of a cancer, but the remaining tumor cells remain problematic. Now, we can find out exactly where those resistant areas are, and we can be more selective and precise with additional treatment.”