Researcher Profile
Robert Bartha
Professor
Department(s):
Medical Biophysics, Medical Imaging, Psychiatry
Publications:
Research Areas
Profile
Dr. Robert Bartha is Professor of Medical Biophysics at Western University, with cross appointments in Medical Imaging and Psychiatry. He is also a Scientist in the Imaging Research Group at the Robarts Research Institute where his research has focused on the development of high-field magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy methods for the early diagnosis of disease and monitoring of treatment response; specifically related to neurological diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, concussion, spinal cord compression, and brain cancer. Dr. Bartha specializes in ultra high magnetic field imaging utilizing a 7 Tesla human MRI scanner, the only one of its kind in Canada, as well as 3 Tesla human and 9.4 Tesla small animal MRI scanners at the Western Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping.
Dr. Bartha’s research is focused on identifying specific imaging biomarkers of disease progression and building novel MRI tracers that highlight pathological aspects of a disease process. His work is highly interdisciplinary involving collaboration with chemists, cell biologists, and physicians. These collaborations have lead to the develop of new imaging contrasts sensitive to physiological conditions such as temperature and pH, new contrast agents targeted to specific proteases upregulated in Alzheimer disease and cancer, and to validate new endogenous metabolic and anatomical biomarkers of disease progression in subjects with Alzheimer disease and brain cancer. Dr. Bartha heads an exciting team that includes research associates, post-doctoral fellows, technicians, and students, with expertise in imaging, physics, and biology.
