Prof.dr.ir. M.J.P. (Thijs) van Osch

I am professor in Radiology, experimental cerebrovascular imaging and I am director of the C.J. Gorter MRI Center and board member of the Leiden Institute of Brain and Cognition. In my research, I aim to develop, validate, and apply new MRI techniques to measure the cerebral physiology. I focus especially on measuring cerebral perfusion and brain clearance.

I focus on measuring brain physiology using innovative MRI techniques. By means of arterial spin labeling MRI (ASL-MRI), cerebral blood flow can be measured without the need of administrating contrast agents. I have implemented, validated and optimized ASL-MRI and expanded upon its capabilities. More recently, I have focused on the use of MRI to visualize the glymphatic system. The glymphatic system has only relatively recently been identified as an important pathway for the removal of waste products from the brain, but non-invasive human brain clearance imaging methods are still largely lacking. Our recently proposed CSF-STREAM technique does provide an opportunity to study the glymphatic system non-invasively.

With regard to clinical applications of MRI, my focus is primarily on cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), including both the sporadic form and Dutch-type CAA, the hereditary variant.

Within LUMC, I am closely involved in the Neuroscience, Cardio-vascular and LEGEND themes.