Principal Investigators

Gregory Stanisz, PhD

Ph.D., Senior Scientist
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
2075 Bayview Avenue, S-Wing, Suite S672
Toronto, ON M4N 3M5 CANADA

Education

PhD, 1990, Physics, Jagellonion University, Poland

Appointments and Affiliations

• Senior scientist, Physical Sciences, Odette Cancer Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Professor, department of medical biophysics, University of Toronto

Research Foci:

Dr. Stanisz’s studies aim to develop magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods to improve specificity and sensitivity of noninvasive image methods in characterizing tissue pathology. His research team uses MRI in animal models of disease and in patients. In particular, they use MRI to evaluate tissue microstructure and metabolism in a variety of different disorders. His research interests include, but are not limited to, the following:

Cancer:

Optimizing MRI methods to predict tumour response to treatment
Applying new imaging technology for MRI-linear accelerator and MRI-brachytherapy systems
Developing MRI methods to assess radiation dose
Testing new multimodal contrast agents for improved specificity of cancer diagnosis.

Brain sciences:

Characterizing new models of spinal cord injury and testing new treatments for spinal cord injury
Understanding the mechanisms of tissue damage in the central nervous system
Evaluating brain metabolism using magnetic resonance spectroscopy in response to microbiotic treatment in animal models of depression.

Research Summary:

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has proved to be a useful diagnostic tool that enables the imaging of soft tissue noninvasively. Measured MRI signal characteristics depend on the physical and chemical processes experienced by water molecules in tissues. Dr. Stanisz’s work involves studies that quantitatively characterize the MRI signal behaviour in various types of normal and pathological tissues in order to obtain information about tissue microstructure and metabolism. Quantitative MRI can be used to estimate physical tissue parameters such as cell dimensions, cell membrane permeability, translational and rotational motion of water in intracellular and extracellular tissue compartments, and extracellular and intracellular volume fractions.

His team is measuring basic MR properties of tissue using a 7T Bruker preclinical MRI system, and developing tissue multicompartmental models in order to correlate experimental data with tissue histopathology data. They are particularly interested in whether nuclear MR measurements such as T1 and T2 relaxation times, diffusion or magnetization transfer between water and macromolecules can be used to evaluate the processes involved in central nervous system pathologies.

In addition, the team is using MRI to monitor cancer therapies in preclinical models of cancer and in patients. In particular, his group is interested in evaluating changes in tumour microstructure and metabolism and the processes of apoptosis (programmed cell death) using combined MRI and MR spectroscopy.

 

Publications

2023

  1. Mehrabian H, Chan RW, Sahgal A, Chen H, Theriault A, Lam WW, Myrehaug S, Tseng CL, Husain Z, Detsky J, Soliman H, Stanisz GJ. Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) MRI for Differentiating Radiation Necrosis from Tumor Progression in Brain Metastases-Application in a Clinical Setting J Magn Reson Imaging. 2023 Jun;57(6):1713-1725. doi: 10.1002/jmri.28440. Epub 2022 Oct 11. PMID: 36219521.
  2. Jabehdar Maralani P, Chan RW, Lam WW, Oakden W, Oglesby R, Lau A, Mehrabian H, Heyn C, Chan AKM, Soliman H, Sahgal A, Stanisz GJ. Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI: What Neuro-Oncology Clinicians Need To Know. Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2023 online. PMID: 37872686.

2022

  1. Mehrabian H, Chan RW, Sahgal A, Chen H, Theriault A, Lam WW, Myrehaug S, Tseng CL, Husain Z, Detsky J, Soliman H, Stanisz GJ.Mehrabian H, et al. Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI for Differentiating Radiation Necrosis From Tumor Progression in Brain Metastasis-Application in a Clinical Setting.  J Magn Reson Imaging. 2022 Oct 11. doi: 10.1002/jmri.28440. Online ahead of print.J Magn Reson Imaging. 2022. PMID: 36219521
  2. Tseng CL, Chen H, Stewart J, Lau AZ, Chan RW, Lawrence LSP, Myrehaug S, Soliman H, Detsky J, Lim-Fat MJ, Lipsman N, Das S, Heyn C, Maralani PJ, Binda S, Perry J, Keller B, Stanisz GJ, Ruschin M, Sahgal A. High grade glioma radiation therapy on a high field 1.5 Tesla MR-Linac – workflow and initial experience with daily adapt-to-position (ATP) MR guidance: A first report. Front Oncol. 2022 Nov 28;12:1060098. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1060098. eCollection 2022. PMID: 36518316.
  3. Oglesby RT, Lam WW, Ruschin M, Holden L, Sarfehnia A, Yeboah C, Sahgal A, Soliman H, Detsky J, Tseng CL, Myrehaug S, Husain Z, Lau AZ, Stanisz GJ, Chugh BP. Skull Phantom-Based Methodology to Validate MRI Co-Registration Accuracy for Gamma Knife Radiosurgery. Med Phys. 2022 Nov;49(11):7071-7084. doi: 10.1002/mp.15851. Epub 2022 Jul 26.
  4. Tseng CL, Chen H, Stewart J, Lau AZ, Chan RW, Lawrence LSP, Myrehaug S, Soliman H, Detsky J, Lim-Fat MJ, Lipsman N, Das S, Heyn C, Maralani PJ, Binda S, Perry J, Keller B, Stanisz GJ, Ruschin M, Sahgal A. High grade glioma radiation therapy on a high field 1.5 Tesla MR-Linac – workflow and initial experience with daily adapt-to-position (ATP) MR guidance: A first report. Front Oncol. 2022 Nov 28;12:1060098. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1060098. PMID: 36518316; PMCID: PMC9742425.

2021

  1. Maralani PJ, Myrehaug S, Mehrabian H, Chan AKM, Winermark M, Heyn C, Conklin J, Ellingson BM, Rahimi S, Lau AZ, Tseng C, Soliman H, Detsky J, Daghighi S, Keith J, Munoz DG, Das S, Eshetu AG, Lipsman N, Perry J, STANISZ GJ, Sahgal A. (2021). ADC, D, f dataset calculated through the simplified IVIM model, with MGMT promoter methylation, age, and ECOG, in 38 patients with wildtype IDH glioblastoma. Data in Brief. 35: 106950.
  2. Jabehdar Maralani P , Myrehaug S , Mehrabian H , Chan AKM , Wintermark M , Heyn C , Conklin J ,Ellingson BM , Rahimi S , Lau AZ , Tseng CL , Soliman H , Detsky J , Daghighi S , Keith J , Munoz DG , Das S , Atenafu EG , Lipsman N , Perry J , Stanisz G , Sahgal A. (2021). Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) modeling of diffusion MRI during chemoradiation predicts therapeutic response in IDH wildtype glioblastoma.Radiotherapy and oncology Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. 156: 258-265.
  3. Kolios C, Lakshmanan S, Dasgupta A, Suraweera H, DiCenzo D, STANISZ GJ, Sahgal A, Wright F, Look Hong N, Curpen B, Trudeau M, Gandhi S, Kolios M, Czarnota G. (2021). MRI texture features from tumor core and margin in the predictionof response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced breast cancer. Oncotarget. 12(14): 1354-1365.
  4. Stewart J , Sahgal A , Lee Y , Soliman H , Tseng CL , Detsky J , Husain Z , Ho L , Das S , Maralani PJ , Lipsman N , Stanisz G , Perry J , Chen H , Atenafu EG , Campbell M , Lau AZ , Ruschin M , Myrehaug S. (2021). Quantitating Inter-fraction Target Dynamics during Concurrent Chemoradiation for Glioblastoma: A Prospective Serial Imaging Study. International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics. 109(3): 736-746.
  5. Chan RW , Chen H , Myrehaug S , Atenafu EG , Stanisz GJ , Stewart J , Maralani PJ , Chan AKM , Daghighi S , Ruschin M , Das S , Perry J , Czarnota GJ , Sahgal A , Lau AZ. (2021). Quantitative CEST and MT at 1.5T for monitoring treatment response in glioblastoma: early and late tumor progression during chemoradiation. Journal of neuro-oncology. 151(2): 267-278.
  6. Tseng CL, Chen H, Stewart J, Lau AZ, Chan RW, Lawrence LSP, Myrehaug S, Soliman H, Detsky J, Lim-Fat MJ, Lipsman N, Das S, Heyn C, Maralani PJ, Binda S, Perry J, Keller B, Stanisz GJ, Ruschin M, Sahgal A. High grade glioma radiation therapy on a high field 1.5 Tesla MR-Linac – workflow and initial experience with daily adapt-to-position (ATP) MR guidance: A first report. Front Oncol. 2022 Nov 28;12:1060098. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1060098. eCollection 2022. PMID: 36518316.
  7. Oglesby RT, Lam WW, Ruschin M, Holden L, Sarfehnia A, Yeboah C, Sahgal A, Soliman H, Detsky J, Tseng CL, Myrehaug S, Husain Z, Lau AZ, Stanisz GJ, Chugh BP. Skull Phantom-Based Methodology to Validate MRI Co-Registration Accuracy for Gamma Knife Radiosurgery. Med Phys. 2022 Nov;49(11):7071-7084. doi: 10.1002/mp.15851. Epub 2022 Jul 26.

2020

  1. Oglesby RT, Lam WW, Stanisz GJ. In vitro characterization of the serotonin biosynthesis pathway by CEST MRI. Magn Reson Med. 2020 Apr 16. doi: 10.1002/mrm.28281. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 32301165.
  2. Mouraviev A, Detsky J, Sahgal A, Ruschin M, Lee YK, Karam I, Heyn C, Stanisz GJ, Martel AL. Use of Radiomics for the Prediction of Local Control of Brain Metastases After Stereotactic Radiosurgery. Neuro Oncol. 2020 Jan 20. pii: noaa007. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noaa007. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31956919.
  3. Nosrati R, Wronski M, Tseng CL, Chung H, Pejović-Milić A, Morton G, Stanisz GJ. Postimplant Dosimetry of Permanent Prostate Brachytherapy: Comparison of MRI-Only and CT-MRI Fusion-Based Workflows. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020 Jan 1;106(1):206-215. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.10.009. Epub 2019 Oct 15. PubMed PMID: 31627178.

2019

  1. Karami E, Ruschin M, Soliman H, Sahgal A, Stanisz GJ, Sadeghi-Naini A. An MR Radiomics Framework for Predicting the Outcome of Stereotactic Radiation Therapy in Brain Metastasis. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2019 Jul;2019:1022-1025. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2019.8856558. PubMed PMID: 31946067.
  2. Karami E, Jalalifar A, Ruschin M, Soliman H, Sahgal A, Stanisz GJ, Sadeghi-Naini A. An Automatic Framework for Segmentation of Brain Tumours at Follow-up Scans after Radiation Therapy(.). Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2019 Jul;2019:463-466. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2019.8856858. PubMed PMID: 31945938.
  3. Karami E, Soliman H, Ruschin M, Sahgal A, Myrehaug S, Tseng CL, Czarnota GJ, Jabehdar-Maralani P, Chugh B, Lau A, Stanisz GJ, Sadeghi-Naini A. Quantitative MRI Biomarkers of Stereotactic Radiotherapy Outcome in Brain Metastasis. Sci Rep. 2019 Dec 27;9(1):19830. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-56185-5. PubMed PMID: 31882597; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6934477.
  4.  Nosrati R, Wronski M, Tseng CL, Chung H, Pejović-Milić A, Morton G, Stanisz GJ. Postimplant Dosimetry of Permanent Prostate Brachytherapy: Comparison of MRI-Only and CT-MRI Fusion-Based Workflows. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020 Jan 1;106(1):206-215. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.10.009. Epub 2019 Oct 15. PubMed PMID: 31627178.
  5. Nosrati R, Song WY, Wronski M, Pejović-Milić A, Morton G, Stanisz GJ. Feasibility of an MRI-only workflow for postimplant dosimetry of low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy: Transition from phantoms to patients. Brachytherapy. 2019 Nov – Dec;18(6):863-874. doi: 10.1016/j.brachy.2019.06.004. Epub 2019 Jul 20. PubMed PMID: 31337542.
  6. Chan RW, Myrehaug S, Stanisz GJ, Sahgal A, Lau AZ. Quantification of pulsed saturation transfer at 1.5T and 3T. Magn Reson Med. 2019 Nov;82(5):1684-1699. doi: 10.1002/mrm.27856. Epub 2019 Jun 22. PubMed PMID: 31228291.
  7. Mehrabian H, Detsky J, Soliman H, Sahgal A, Stanisz GJ. Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging Techniques in Management of Brain Metastases. Front Oncol. 2019 Jun 4;9:440. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2019.00440. eCollection 2019. Review. PubMed PMID: 31214496; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6558019.
  8. Nosrati R, Paudel M, Ravi A, Pejovic-Milic A, Morton G, Stanisz GJ. Potential applications of the quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) in MR-guided radiation therapy. Phys Med Biol. 2019 Jul 16;64(14):145013. doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/ab2623. PubMed PMID: 31151120.

2018

  1. Klein J, Lam WW, Czarnota GJ, Stanisz GJ. Chemical exchange saturation transfer MRI to assess cell death in breast cancer xenografts at 7T. Oncotarget. 2018 Jul 31;9(59):31490-31501. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.25844. eCollection 2018 Jul 31. PubMed PMID: 30140385; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6101146.
  2. Lam WW, Oakden W, Murray L, Klein J, Iorio C, Screaton RA, Koletar MM, Chu W,  Liu SK, Stanisz GJ. Differentiation of Normal and Radioresistant Prostate Cancer  Xenografts Using Magnetization Transfer-Prepared MRI. Sci Rep. 2018 Jul 11;8(1):10447. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-28731-0. PubMed PMID: 29992999; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6041323.
  3. Mehrabian H, Myrehaug S, Soliman H, Sahgal A, Stanisz GJ. Evaluation of Glioblastoma Response to Therapy With Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2018 Jul 1;101(3):713-723. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.03.057. Epub 2018 Apr 4. PubMed PMID: 29893279.
  4. Dang T, Suchy M, Truong YJ, Oakden W, Lam WW, Lazurko C, Facey G, Stanisz GJ, Shuhendler AJ. Hydrazo-CEST: Hydrazone-Dependent Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agents. Chemistry. 2018 Jun 26;24(36):9148-9156. doi: 10.1002/chem.201801671. Epub 2018 Jun 6. PubMed PMID: 29645309.
  5. Mehrabian H, Lam WW, Myrehaug S, Sahgal A, Stanisz GJ. Glioblastoma (GBM) effects on quantitative MRI of contralateral normal appearing white matter. J Neurooncol. 2018 Aug;139(1):97-106. doi: 10.1007/s11060-018-2846-0. Epub 2018 Mar 28. PubMed PMID: 29594656.
  6. Mehrabian H, Myrehaug S, Soliman H, Sahgal A, Stanisz GJ. Quantitative Magnetization Transfer in Monitoring Glioblastoma (GBM) Response to Therapy. Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 6;8(1):2475. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-20624-6. PubMed PMID: 29410469; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5802834.
  7. van Zijl PCM, Lam WW, Xu J, Knutsson L, Stanisz GJ. Magnetization Transfer Contrast and Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI. Features and analysis of the field-dependent saturation spectrum. Neuroimage. 2018 Mar;168:222-241. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.04.045. Epub 2017 Apr 21. Review. PubMed PMID: 28435103; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5650949.

2017

  1. Lake EMR, Mester J, Thomason LA, Adams C, Bazzigaluppi P, Koletar M, Janik R, Carlen P, McLaurin J, Stanisz GJ, Stefanovic B. Modulation of the peri-infarct neurogliovascular function by delayed COX-1 inhibition. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2017 Aug;46(2):505-517. doi: 10.1002/jmri.25541. Epub 2016 Nov 7. PubMed PMID: 28703413.
  2. Kapadia A, Mehrabian H, Conklin J, Symons SP, Maralani PJ, Stanisz GJ, Sahgal A, Soliman H, Heyn CC. Temporal evolution of perfusion parameters in brain metastases treated with stereotactic radiosurgery: comparison of intravoxel incoherent motion and dynamic contrast enhanced MRI. J Neurooncol. 2017 Oct;135(1):119-127. doi: 10.1007/s11060-017-2556-z. Epub 2017 Jul 1. PubMed PMID: 28669014.
  3. van Zijl PCM, Lam WW, Xu J, Knutsson L, Stanisz GJ. Magnetization Transfer Contrast and Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI. Features and analysis of  the field-dependent saturation spectrum. Neuroimage. 2018 Mar;168:222-241. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.04.045. Epub 2017 Apr 21. Review. PubMed PMID: 28435103; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5650949.
  4. Mehrabian H, Desmond KL, Chavez S, Bailey C, Rola R, Sahgal A, Czarnota GJ, Soliman H, Martel AL, Stanisz GJ. Water Exchange Rate Constant as a Biomarker of Treatment Efficacy in Patients With Brain Metastases Undergoing Stereotactic Radiosurgery. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2017 May 1;98(1):47-55. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.01.016. Epub 2017 Jan 10. PubMed PMID: 28258890.
  5. Mehrabian H, Desmond KL, Soliman H, Sahgal A, Stanisz GJ. Differentiation between Radiation Necrosis and Tumor Progression Using Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Jul 15;23(14):3667-3675. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-16-2265. Epub 2017 Jan 17. PubMed PMID: 28096269.
  6. Desmond KL, Mehrabian H, Chavez S, Sahgal A, Soliman H, Rola R, Stanisz GJ. Chemical exchange saturation transfer for predicting response to stereotactic radiosurgery in human brain metastasis. Magn Reson Med. 2017 Sep;78(3):1110-1120. doi: 10.1002/mrm.26470. Epub 2016 Sep 30. PubMed PMID: 27690156.
  7. Lake EMR, Bazzigaluppi P, Mester J, Thomason LAM, Janik R, Brown M, McLaurin J, Carlen PL, Corbett D, Stanisz GJ, Stefanovic B. Neurovascular unit remodelling in the subacute stage of stroke recovery. Neuroimage. 2017 Feb 1;146:869-882. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.09.016. Epub 2016 Sep 21. PubMed PMID: 27664828.

 

 

News