Translational Metabolic Imaging Lab (Sriram-Kurhanewicz-Peehl)

Dr. Renuka Sriram's research work is centered on exploiting the metabolic dysregulation in cancer to develop biomarkers for diagnoses and therapeutic efficacy using magnetic resonance technology. This encompasses the spectrum of magnetic resonance tools from stable isotope resolved metabolomics for identification of dysregulated metabolic pathways, optimization of appropriate bioprobes and its validation using hyperpolarized carbon-13 imaging.

With a keen focus on developing robust translatable biomarkers, her lab is focused on establishing a clinically pertinent compendium of models amenable for metabolic imaging and associated engineering controls from ex vivo cell and tissue slice cultures adapted for physiologically relevant MR/PET compatible bioreactor systems all the way to in vivo transgenic and orthotopic murine models using patient derived living tissues.

Recent foray into the infectious disease space, has further capitalized on the lab's experitse to identify bacteria specific metabolic pathways as a mechanism to identify infectious pathogens using the cutting edge hyperpolarized 13C MRI.

Ahamed, F.; Van Criekinge, M.; Wang, Z. J.; Kurhanewicz, J.; Larson, P.; Sriram, R. Modeling hyperpolarized lactate signal dynamics in cells, patient‐derived tissue slice cultures and murine models. NMR Biomed. 2021, 13, e4467.
Qin, H.; Zhang, V.; Bok, R. A.; Santos, R. D.; Cunha, J. A.; Hsu, I.-C.; Santos BS, J. D.; Lee, J. E.; Sukumar, S.; Larson, P. E. Z.; Vigneron, D. B.; Wilson, D. M.; Sriram, R.; Kurhanewicz, J. Simultaneous Metabolic and Perfusion Imaging Using Hyperpolarized 13C MRI Can Evaluate Early and Dose-Dependent Response to Radiation Therapy in a Prostate Cancer Mouse Model. International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics 2020, 107, 887–896.
Sriram, R.; Van Criekinge, M.; DeLos Santos, J.; Ahamed, F.; Qin, H.; Nolley, R.; Santos, R. D.; Tabatabai, Z. L.; Bok, R. A.; Keshari, K. R.; Vigneron, D. B.; Peehl, D. M.; Kurhanewicz, J. Elevated Tumor Lactate and Efflux in High-grade Prostate Cancer demonstrated by Hyperpolarized 13C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of Prostate Tissue Slice Cultures. Cancers 2020, 12.