Dr Nyoman Kurniawan

Dr Kurniawan has extensive collaboration with national and international researchers involving disease models using ultra-high field MRI.

Dr. Nyoman Kurniawan's research is focused on the development and application of ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study neurodegeneration and recovery processes in neurological diseases. His objective is to use high-resolution and strong diffusion-weighted imaging, which can uniquely be obtained from ultra-high field scanners, to develop new approaches and improve MRI diagnosis in the clinic.

As a Senior Research Fellow for the ultra-high field MRI, he is also responsible for managing research using the 16.4T and 9.4T Bruker MRI. In this role, he conducts research for the development and application of new imaging methods, manages the use of the scanner, and promotes its use among new collaborators.

Using the 9.4T scanner with the cryoprobe, he can image mouse brains in vivo at very high resolutions (~50 microns for 2D in-plane resolution) or ~200 microns 3D isotropic resolution. With the 16.4T scanner, he can achieve even higher resolution with small ex-vivo samples, down to 10-50 microns 3D isotropic resolution for T1-weighted imaging and 40-100 microns 3D resolution for diffusion-weighted imaging. This unique capability is the result of a combination of unprecedented sensitivity of imaging at the ultra-high field or with the cryoprobe, and a strong gradient imaging system.

He has used various methods of diffusion MRI for microstructure analysis and fiber tractography to study different models of human neurological diseases, as well as the development of mouse and zebrafish brain and human spinal cord MRI atlases. His current research involves the application of diffusion MRI to study mouse models of neurological diseases and degeneration (such as multiple sclerosis), and building translation from pre-clinical animal studies into human clinical imaging.

Collaborations

Dr Kurniawan has extensive collaboration with national and international researchers involving disease models using ultra-high field MRI.

Funding

Current funding 2022 - 2025 The mind and brain of an octopus: smart supercharged-snail The Australia and Pacific Science Foundation 2022 - 2025 Advancing the visualisation and quantification of nephrons with MRI ARC Discovery Projects

Key Publications

Manganese-Based Layered Double Hydroxide Nanoparticles as a T1-MRI Contrast Agent with Ultrasensitive pH Response and High Relaxivity Li, B. , Gu, Z. , Kurniawan, N. , Chen, W. , Xu, Z.P. Advanced Materials, 2017, 29(29), 1700373

A segmentation protocol and MRI atlas of the C57BL/6J mouse neocortex Ullmann, J.F.P. , Watson, C. , Janke, A.L. , Kurniawan, N.D. , Reutens, D.C. NeuroImage, 2013, 78, pp. 196–203

Brain tissue compartment density estimated using diffusion-weighted MRI yields tissue parameters consistent with histology Sepehrband, F. , Clark, K.A. , Ullmann, J.F.P. , ... Reutens, D.C. , Yang, Z. Human Brain Mapping, 2015, 36(9), pp. 3687–3702

Novel theranostic nanoplatform for complete mice tumor elimination via MR imaging-guided acid-enhanced photothermo-/chemo-therapy Li, B. , Tang, J. , Chen, W. , ... Gu, Z. , Xu, Z.P. Biomaterials, 2018, 177, pp. 40–51

Super-resolution track-density imaging studies of mouse brain: Comparison to histology Calamante, F. , Tournier, J.-D. , Kurniawan, N.D. , ... Reutens, D.C. , Connelly, A. NeuroImage, 2012, 59(1), pp. 286–296