On Friday 30 June 2017, Abubakr Eldirdiri defended his PhD thesis 'Monitoring Cancer Response to Treatment with Hyperpolarized 13C MRS'.
Examiners were Associate Professor Axel Thielscher, DTU Elektro, Associate Professor Dirk Mayer, University of Maryland and Senior Research Associate Mary A. McLean, Cambridge University. The defence took a little over two hours, and ended with a unanimous recommendation from the examiners' committee that the PhD degree should be conferred on Abubakr Eldirdiri.
Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy is a powerful imaging modality for monitoring cancer treatment response. Conventionally, doctors follow patient response by scanning tumor size with CT or MR, which may not allow sufficiently early or precise intervention. MRS of hyperpolarized 13C substrates provides functional information about tumor biology throughout treatment cycle. At his defence, Abubakr Eldirdiri explained how different 13C substrates have been used to monitor tumor metabolism and necrosis closely, providing valuable information about response to treatment regime and potentially changes in treatment strategy that may improve prognosis and spare patients from unnecessary side effects.
Researcher Sean Bowen from DTU Elektro was Chairperson at the defence.
Abubakr Eldirdiri's research project is funded by Danish Council for Independent Research (DFF-1331-00259B) and is part of the activities of the HYPERMAG Center of Excellence, funded by Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF124). You can find more information on his project here and a popular resumé of the thesis here.