Parkinson's Disease: Unveiling the Promise of Neuromelanin Sensitive Imaging

Date: April  29th 2025
Time: 3pm BST / 4pm CET / 10am EST

Speakers:

Stéphane Lehéricy – Professor of Neuroradiology at the Pitié-Salpêtrière and Director of CENIR

Vahid Malekian - Biomarker Scientist – IXICO

Moderator: Hiba Kazmi, Senior Biomarker Scientist – IXICO

The use of neuroimaging to measure longitudinal change biomarkers in Parkinson's Disease (PD) is increasing. Neuromelanin sensitive imaging in particular is receiving increasing attention as an emerging promising tool. Join us to explore the potential of neuromelanin sensitive MRI imaging in PD clinical trials in PD what this means for current and future research.

 What You’ll Learn:

• Current Biomarkers in the Clinic for Parkinson’s Disease:Existing biomarkers have limitations in effectively tracking disease progression.
• The Role of Neuromelanin (NM): The Role of Neuromelanin (NM): How neuromelanin, a pigment found in dopamine neurons, can be relevant to PD research.
• Neuromelanin MRI Acquisition and Analysis: Understanding the methods of acquisition, analysis techniques and harmonisation across sites and scanners to ensure maximum usability of data in clinical trials.
• Challenges in NM Imaging: There are practical and technical challenges in NM imaging, such as low spatial resolution and long acquisition times.
• Your opportunity to ask our experts questions then and there during the Q&A

This webinar offers a unique opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge from leading experts in the field. Leave with a better understanding of neuromelanin sensitive imaging and its potential as a neuroimaging biomarker in clinical trials.

Register now to discover how neuromelanin imaging can enhance your research capabilities and contribute to more effective treatments for Parkinson's Disease.

About the speakers

Stéphane Lehéricy – Professor of Neuroradiology at the Pitié-Salpêtrière and Director of CENIR

 Stéphane Lehéricy is Professor of Neuroradiology at the Pitié-Salpêtrière and Director of CENIR (Centre de neuro-imagerie de recherche) at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital. He completed a university thesis in basic neuroscience with Pr. Yves Agid (Inserm U678) and his postdoctoral fellow in functional neuroimaging at SHFJ-CEA in Orsay with Pr. Denis Le Bihan. He spent three years at the Centre for Magnetic Resonance Research / University of Minnesota, under the direction of Prof. Kamil Ugurbil.

It presents a sustained research activity with numerous funding (PHRC, ANR, France Alzheimer, France Parkinson, ENP). His area of research is the structural and functional study of the normal and pathological human brain, including movement pathology and neurodegenerative dementia. He focuses on the functional anatomy of the ganglia at the base of the normal human brain and on movement disorders. He has contributed to the understanding of the functional anatomy of the basal ganglia using fMRI and the diffusion tensor.

Vahid Malekian - Biomarker Scientist - IXICO

Vahid Malekian is a Biomarker Scientist at IXICO, specializing in MRI data acquisition, analysis, and biomarker development. He holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology, focusing on fMRI acquisition techniques. He has worked at the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging and University College London, contributing to projects on MR pulse sequence developments, MR image reconstruction, and novel data analysis for neuroscience.

Vahid collaborates with pharmaceutical companies and research institutions to integrate MRI biomarkers into clinical trials. He has developed MRI data acquisition and analysis pipelines, including Neuromelanin-MRI, and presented his work at international conferences. His contributions advance MRI-based biomarkers for neurological research and innovative treatments for neurological disorders.

Moderator: Hiba Kazmi, Senior Biomarker Scientist – IXICO
Hiba Kazmi is a Senior Biomarker Scientist with extensive experience in protocol design and consultancy for neurodegenerative clinical trials, particularly those focused on parkinsonian syndromes. She earned her PhD from University College London (UCL) Queen Square Institute of Neurology, where she investigated clinical and imaging features associated with prodromal Parkinson’s Disease in patients with late-onset depression.

Hiba has collaborated with numerous companies, leveraging her expertise to enhance clinical trial protocols. Her clinical experience includes working with patients suffering from movement disorders in addition to those with psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. Currently, she is a key member of IXICO, contributing to research across Parkinsonian syndromes and also Alzheimer’s disease.