Dr Marie-Claude Asselin PhD

• To provide a sound methodological infrastructure for the manipulation, analysis and visualisation of PET and other related medical image data.
• To provide expert advice on the design, conduct and analysis of PET and associated data.
• To develop, implement and evaluate novel methods of data acquisition or analysis.
• To contribute to the education of WMIC staff and external collaborators on PET methodology.

Member of International Society for Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism (since 2001)

Research topics

• Kinetic modelling of PET dynamic studies
• Partial volume correction
• Image-derived input functions

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Asselin M.-C., Montgomery A.J., Grasby P.M. and Hume S.P. (2006) Quantification of PET studies with the very high-affinity dopamine D₂/D₃ receptor ligand [C-11]FLB 457: Re-evaluation of the validity of using a cerebellar reference region, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism (in press).

Montgomery A.J., Asselin M.-C., Farde L. and Grasby P.M. (2006) Measurement of methylphenidate-induced change in extrastriatal dopamine concentration using [C-11]FLB 457 PET, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism (in press).

Türkheimer F.E., Aston J.A.D., Asselin M.-C. and Hinz R. (2006) Multi-Resolution Bayesian Regression in PET Dynamic Studies using Wavelets, NeuroImage 32(1): 111-21.

Reeves S.J., Grasby P.M., Howard R.J., Bantick S.A., Asselin M.-C., and Mehta M. (2005) A positron emission tomography (PET) investigation of the role of striatal dopamine (D2) receptor availability in spatial cognition, NeuroImage 28(1): 216-26.

von Spiczak S., Whone A.L., Hammers A., Asselin M.-C., Turkheimer F., Tings T., Happe S., Paulus W., Trenkwalder C., Brooks D.J. (2005) The role of opioids in restless legs syndrome: an [C-11]diprenorphine PET study, Brain 128(4): 906-917.

Asselin M.-C., Cunningham V.J., Amano, S. Gunn, R.N. and Nahmias C. (2004) Parametrically Defined Cerebral Blood Vessels as Non-Invasive Blood Input Functions for Brain PET Studies, Physics in Medicine and Biology 49(6): 1033-54.

Asselin M.-C., Wahl L.M., Cunningham V.J., Amano S. and Nahmias C. (2002) In vivo metabolism and partitioning of 6-[F-18]fluoro-L-meta-tyrosine in whole blood: a unified compartmental model, Physics in Medicine and Biology 47(11): 1961-77.

Aston J.A.D., Cunningham V.J., Asselin M.-C., Hammers, A., Evans, A.C. and Gunn, R.N. (2002) Positron Emission Tomography Partial Volume Correction: Estimation and Algorithms, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 22(8): 1019-34.

Chirakal R., Vasdev N., Asselin M.-C., Schrobilgen G.J. and Nahmias C. (2002) The effect of aromatic fluorine substitution in L-DOPA on the in vivo behavior of [F-18] 2-, [F-18] 5- and [F-18] 6-fluoro-L-DOPA in the human brain, Journal of Fluorine Chemistry 115(1): 33-9.

Nahmias C., Wahl L.M., Amano S., Asselin M.-C. and Chirakal R. (2000) The Equilibration of [F-18]6-Fluoro-L-m-Tyrosine Between Plasma and Erythrocytes, Journal of Nuclear Medicine 41(10): 1636-41.

Wahl L.M., Asselin M.-C. and Nahmias C. (1999) Regions Of Interest in the Venous Sinuses as input Functions for Quantitative Positron Tomography, Journal of Nuclear Medicine 40(10): 1666-75.

Asselin M.-C., Kriemler S., Chettle D.R., Webber C.E., Bar-Or O. and McNeill F.E. (1998) Hydration Status Assessed by Multi-Frequency Bioimpedance Analysis, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 49(5/6): 495-97.

Quirion F., Asselin M.-C. and Ross G.G. (1994) Propagation of Interfacial Waves in Microgravity, Chemical Society Reviews 23(4): 275-81.

Selected conference proceedings and abstracts

Asselin M.-C., Montgomery A.J. and Grasby P.M. (2006) Parametric mapping of [C-11]FLB457 binding using spectral analysis, NeuroImage 31(Suppl. 2): T21-2 (oral).

Holohan S.-J.P., Rimoldi O., Turton D.R., Williams S.L., Hume S.P., Camici P.G., Asselin M.-C. (2005) Quantification of [C-11]GB67 binding to cardiac alpha1-adrenoceptors, Molecular Imaging and Biology 7(2): 169 (poster).

Asselin M.-C., Hammers A., Turton D., Osman S., Koepp M., and Brooks D. (2004) Initial Kinetic Analyses of the In Vivo Binding of the Putative NMDA Receptor Ligand [C-11]CNS 5161 in Humans, NeuroImage 22(S2): T137-8 (poster).

Asselin M.-C., Hammers A., Sethi F.N., Koepp M.J., Grasby P.M., and Cunningham V.J. (2003) Definition of a reference region for PET/[C-11]diprenorphine studies, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 23(Suppl.): 679 (oral).

Asselin M.-C., Amano S., Chirakal R., Thompson M., and Nahmias C. (2002) Patterns of Distribution of [F-18]6-Fluoro-L-m-Tyrosine in PET Images of Patients with Movements Disorders, Chap. 44 of Brain Imaging using PET, Academic Press, pp. 291-301.

Work experience

2006 – present: Senior PET Methodologist The University of Manchester Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre, Manchester, UK

2001 - 2006: Mathematical Modeller
Hammersmith Imanet Ltd. (part of GE HealthCare since 2004), London, UK

Education

2004:           Ph.D. awarded

1997 - 2001: Ph.D. work in Medical Physics (McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada)
Thesis: Image-Derived Plasma Input Function for Positron Emission Tomography(PET) / [F-18]6-Fluoro-m-L-Tyrosine(FmT) Brain Studies

1995 - 1997: M.Sc. in Medical Physics (McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada)
Thesis: Study of the Precision and Accuracy of the Multiple-Frequency Bioimpedance Method for Assessing Hydration Status in Humans

1991 - 1994: B.Sc. in Physics (University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada)