Physical sciences

Administrative Assistant: Razia Haidar
Phone: 416-480-4619
Email: Razia.Haidar@sunnybrook.ca

Education:

• B.Sc., 2006, biophysics, University of British Columbia, Canada
• PhD, 2012, medical biophysics, University of Toronto, Canada
• Postdoctoral fellowship, 2016, cardiovascular medicine, University of Oxford, U.K.

Appointments and Affiliations:

• Scientist, Physical Sciences, Odette Cancer Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Assistant professor, department of medical biophysics, U of T

Research Foci:

• MRI physics
• Molecular imaging
• Image-guided radiation therapy

Research Summary:

The focus of Dr. Lau’s research is on developing new MRI technologies to revolutionize how radiation treatment is delivered in the clinic. He is developing techniques for an advanced image-guided radiotherapy platform called the MRI-LINAC, which integrates an external-beam linear accelerator with a diagnostic 1.5T MRI scanner. This innovative device enables delivery of external beam radiation while the patient is within the MRI environment, which provides exquisite soft-tissue contrast noninvasively at treatment time.

Dr. Lau’s research directions include real-time imaging techniques for adaptive radiotherapy, and the integration of molecular imaging to improve treatment response monitoring.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

1. Lau AZ, Miller JJ, Tyler DJ. Mapping of intracellular pH in the in vivo rodent heart using hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate. Magn Reson Med. 2017 May;77(5):1810–1817. doi: 10.1002/mrm.26260.
2. Lau AZ, Miller JJ, Robson MD, Tyler DJ. Simultaneous assessment of cardiac metabolism and perfusion using copolarized [1-13C]pyruvate and 13C-urea. Magn Reson Med. 2017 Jan;77(1):151–58. doi: 10.1002/mrm.26106.
3. Lau AZ, Miller JJ, Robson MD, Tyler DJ. Cardiac perfusion imaging using hyperpolarized 13C urea using flow sensitizing gradients. Magn Reson Med. 2016 Apr;75(4):1474–83. doi: 10.1002/mrm.25713. Epub 2015 May 20.
4. Lau AZ, Tunnicliffe EM, Frost R, Koopmans PJ, Tyler DJ, Robson MD. Accelerated human cardiac diffusion tensor imaging using simultaneous multislice imaging. Magn Reson Med. 2015 Mar;73(3):995–1004. doi: 10.1002/mrm.25200. Epub 2014 Mar 21.
5. Lau AZ, Chen AP, Ghugre NR, Ramanan V, Lam WW, Connelly KA, Wright GA, Cunningham CH. Rapid multislice imaging of hyperpolarized 13C pyruvate and bicarbonate in the heart. Magn Reson Med. 2010 Nov;64(5):1323–31. doi: 10.1002/mrm.22525.

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