Dr. Jonathan Thiessen
WINNIPEG, MB – The results of a research team studying multiple sclerosis (MS), led by Dr. Melanie Martin, University of Winnipeg Physics Associate Professor and Director of the Magnetic Resonance Microscopy Centre at the University of Manitoba, have been published in the prestigious Wiley Online Library journal NMR in Biomedicine (November 2013 issue).
The research group that also includes scientists from Universities of Manitoba and Saskatchewan found subtle changes in the brain due to multiple sclerosis, “We used advanced techniques in magnetic resonance imaging to search for clues in MS, which has not been done before,” explained Martin. “Our results show that when studied together, many different kinds of MRI methods can reveal a lot about the underlying anatomical changes in the brain due to diseases like MS.”
Dr. Melanie Martin, photo credit Dan Harpehe first author of the report, Dr. Jonathan Thiessen*, a former PhD student in Dr. Martin’s lab and UWinnipeg graduate said, “It’s very fulfilling to open up new windows on this debilitating disease which we hope will help in the search for a cure.”
The project was supported by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Natural Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Manitoba Research and Innovation Fund.
According to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, MS is a complex disease most commonly diagnosed in young adults. Currently there is no cure for this debilitating disease which affects vision, hearing, memory, balance and mobility. Canadians have one of the highest rates of MS in the world with Manitoba having one of the highest rates in Canada.
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* In 2003 Thiessen received a BSc (Physics) and BA (English) and in 2007 he received a BSc (Hons) in Physics
