Alan C Seifert, PhD
img_Alan C Seifert
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR | Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR | Artificial Intelligence and Human Health
Research Topics
Biomechanics/Bioengineering, Biomedical Sciences, Biophysics, Brain Imaging, Imaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Myelination, Pain, Spinal Cord
Multi-Disciplinary Training Area
Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies in Medicine [AIET], Genetics and Genomic Sciences [GGS], Neuroscience [NEU]
Development of anatomical, functional, and diffusion MRI methods at ultra-high field (7 Tesla) to study neural circuits spanning the spinal cord, brainstem, cerebellum, and brain, particularly those involved in pain modulation
The cervical spinal cord and brainstem are vital central nervous system (CNS) structures that connect the forebrain to the body. Despite its critical role in wide range of functions, the human brainstem receives disproportionally less attention than the cerebrum or basal ganglia in in vivo MRI neuroimaging studies. The cervical spinal cord is simpler in structure than the brainstem, and its dysfunction is more clearly related to disability. In the past decade, cervical spinal cord MRI has found important applications in neurological disorders involving the spinal cord, such as multiple sclerosis, cervical spondylotic myelopathy, and spinal cord injury, with most of these imaging techniques developed for 3 Tesla (T). However, limited spatial resolution at 3T remains a critical barrier to advancing neuroimaging of small but important gray matter (GM) nuclei and white matter (WM) fasciculi in the cervical spinal cord and brainstem. The recently increasing availability of ultra-high field (7 Tesla) scanners heralds a new era of human cervical spinal cord and brainstem imaging. By leveraging the increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sensitivity to the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) effect at ultrahigh field, sufficient resolution is achievable to delineate fine structures and interpret function in a more meaningful way.
Development of solid-state MRI methods (ssMRI), such as ultrashort echo time (UTE) and zero echo time (ZTE), for direct quantification of myelin concentration
Myelin is a biomaterial composed of lipids, proteins, and water, that electrically insulates axons and ensures efficient action potential transduction. The concentration of myelin is closely related to the health of the nervous system, and deficient myelination and demyelination are hallmarks of several neurological disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and dementia. Non-invasive quantification of myelin content has important applications to the study, diagnosis, and monitoring of treatment of these debilitating disorders. Although myelin liquid crystalline 1H signal is not visible using conventional MRI pulse sequences due to its short transverse relaxation time (T2), quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) and myelin water imaging (MWI) can infer myelin concentration via the interaction between water and myelin’s liquid crystalline lipid and protein components and have entered widespread use in human studies. Interaction with myelin, however, is not the only phenomenon affecting water 1H signal. This signal is affected by a host of biophysical phenomena, not all of which are fully understood or likely even discovered. Solid-state MRI methods, such as UTE and ZTE, can directly image the extremely short-T2 liquid crystalline 1H signal of myelin, and can provide a direct measurement of myelin concentration, unbiased by the vast range of effects modulating water 1H signal.
Refinement and application of high-resolution multi-contrast and quantitative ex vivo MRI methods to complement and enhance neuropathological research
MRI is an extremely valuable 3D non-destructive method for investigation of post-mortem tissue. Multiple pulse sequences can provide information on microstructural integrity of white matter, myelination, edema, infarction, and hemorrhage throughout the entire brain at high spatial resolution. However, MRI cannot yet deliver the level of microscopic detail and specificity that histology can provide. Although histology provides incredibly detailed and specific information on a microscopic level, this information is only available in tissue that is selected a priori for sectioning and staining. It is therefore very likely that sectioning and visual examination will fail to sample all abnormal regions in the brain, particularly small microhemorrhages or microinfarctions that are smaller than several millimeters. The integration of MRI and histology methods can combine the sensitivity of whole-brain 3D imaging with the specificity and detail of histopathological analysis. This renders the unification of MRI and histology more effective than the sum of the two methods in isolation.

BS, Johns Hopkins University

PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Postdoc, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

2019

Junior Fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

2017

NINDS Career Development Award (NIH K01)

2016

The Lodwick Award, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Radiology, 2016 Division of Musculoskeletal Imaging & Intervention

2015

ISMRM Musculoskeletal Study Group First Place Oral Presentation

Publications

Selected Publications

Thermal stimulus task fMRI in the cervical spinal cord at 7 Tesla. Alan C. Seifert, Junqian Xu, Yazhuo Kong, Falk Eippert, Karla L. Miller, Irene Tracey, S. Johanna Vannesjo. Human Brain Mapping

Researching COVID to enhance recovery (RECOVER) tissue pathology study protocol: Rationale, objectives, and design. Andrea B. Troxel, Marie Abele C. Bind, Thomas J. Flotte, Carlos Cordon-Cardo, Lauren A. Decker, Aloke V. Finn, Robert F. Padera, R. Ross Reichard, James R. Stone, Natalie L. Adolphi, Faye Victoria C. Casimero, John F. Crary, Jamie Elifritz, Arline Faustin, Saikat Kumar B. Ghosh, Amanda Krausert, Maria Martinez-Lage, Jonathan Melamed, Roger A. Mitchell, Barbara A. Sampson, Alan C. Seifert, Aylin Simsir, Cheryle Adams, Stephanie Haasnoot, Stephanie Hafner, Michelle A. Siciliano, Brittany B. Vallejos, Phoebe Del Boccio, Michelle F. Lamendola-Essel, Chloe E. Young, Deepshikha Kewlani, Precious A. Akinbo, Brendan Parent, Alicia Chung, Teresa C. Cato, Praveen C. Mudumbi, Shari Esquenazi-Karonika, Marion J. Wood, James Chan, Jonathan Monteiro, Daniel J. Shinnick, Tanayott Thaweethai, Amber N. Nguyen, Megan L. Fitzgerald, Alice A. Perlowski, Lauren E. Stiles, Moira L. Paskett, Stuart D. Katz, Andrea S. Foulkes, Preciosa Akinbo, Phoebe Del Boccio, Michelle Lamendola-Essel, Chloe Young, Faye Victoria C. Casimero, Maria Martinez Lage Alvarez, Robert F. Padera, Michelle Siciliano, Aloke Virmani Finn, Katie Burack, Ashley DeGrange, Youraline Joseph, Rika Kawakami, Robert Kutys, Tina Richards, Maria Romero, Torie Samuda, Renu Virmani, Cheryle Adams, Hassan Brim, La Tenzar Everrett, Devon Jackson, Mary Bruno, Ezeddin Fadel, Camila Fang, Arline Faustin, Estefania Gallego, Eduardo Iturrate, Deepshikha Kewlani, Jan Osea, Timothy Shepherd, Michael Harris, Melissa Klein, Matthew LoMastro, Moira Paskett, Stephanie Hafner, Lisa Hines, Kejal Kantarci, Claudia Lucinetti, Joseph Maleszewski, Teresa Moran, Kristina Peters, Katelyn Reed, Emily Scharrer, Nicole Steinle, Suzanne Taylor, Luke Wilson, Thor Wirth, Thomas Flotte, Mary Beth Beasley, Kristin Beaumont, Michael Beaumont, Rachel Brody, Alessandra Cervera, Alexander Charney, John Crary, Kristen Dams-O’Connor, Siraj El Jamal, Rebecca Folkerth, Andrea Gonzalez, Ronald Gordon, Sabina Guliyeva, Stephanie Haasnoot, Kenneth Haines, Nathalie Jette, Amanda Krausert, Bea Martin, Russell McBride, Alberto Mondolfi, Susan Morgello, Elisabet Pujadas, Barbara Sampson, Robert Sebra, Alan Seifert, Aryeh Stock, Aleeka Wade, Emma Woodoff Leith, Paula Yarbrough, Natalie Adolphi, Stacy Catanach, Lauren Decker, Jamie Elifritz, Hadya Khawaja, Jacob Ormsby, Kyla Sorensen, Brittany Vallejos, Claire Wells. PLoS ONE

Combining adhesive and nonadhesive injectable hydrogels for intervertebral disc repair in an ovine discectomy model. Christopher J. Panebianco, Caroline Constant, Andrea J. Vernengo, Dirk Nehrbass, Dominic Gehweiler, Tyler J. DiStefano, Jesse Martin, David J. Alpert, Saad B. Chaudhary, Andrew C. Hecht, Alan C. Seifert, Steven B. Nicoll, Sibylle Grad, Stephan Zeiter, James C. Iatridis. JOR Spine

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Dr. Seifert has not yet completed reporting of Industry relationships.

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