Research summary
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease that is associated with a history of head injuries, including traumatic brain injuries and repetitive concussions. Currently, CTE can only be diagnosed after death, through an autopsy. As Canada Research Chair in Radiochemistry and Medical Imaging, Dr. Neil Vasdev hopes to develop the first positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers that can image chronic CTE in living patients.
He and his research team have already worked on several new PET radiotracers that focused on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Now, they aim to discover novel ones that focus on understanding the hallmarks of CTE, such as isoform-selective tau proteins, neuroinflammation, synaptic density, and other enzyme and kinase targets. Their goal is to come up with the first PET radiopharmaceutical to image CTE in the living human brain. Their work may transform how physicians diagnose neurological disorders, traumatic brain injuries, neurodegenerative diseases, and related dementias.