Robin A. De Graaf

About

Robin de Graaf, PhD, is a Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at Yale School of Medicine. His main research focus is the study of cerebral energy metabolism and its relationship to functional activation in human and animal brains. He utilizes NMR spectroscopy, including proton, carbon-13, oxygen-17, and phosphorus-31, as a non-invasive in vivo tool to investigate metabolic processes and fluxes. His work also involves technological and methodological improvements to NMR spectroscopy, such as water suppression, spatial localization, spectral editing, quantification, and shimming. Dr. de Graaf's current research emphasizes addressing challenges and leveraging opportunities of magnetic resonance at very high magnetic fields. This includes developing methods for magnetic field uniformity through dynamic shimming and novel electrical coil arrays, extending 13C NMR techniques for better coverage, sensitivity, and specificity, and advancing software tools for metabolic imaging. His research contributes significantly to biomedical engineering, energy metabolism, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy, with applications in understanding brain function and metabolic disorders.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Biochemistry
• Biology
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Materials science
• Natural Language Processing
• Nuclear magnetic resonance
• Medicine
• Management science

Selected publications

• Contribution of macromolecules to brain ¹H MR spectra: Experts' consensus recommendations

  NMR in Biomedicine · 2020 · 143 citations

  Proton MR spectra of the brain, especially those measured at short and intermediate echo times, contain signals from mobile macromolecules (MM). A description of the main MM is provided in this consensus paper. These broad peaks of MM underlie the narrower peaks of metabolites and often complicate their quantification but they also may have potential importance as biomarkers in specific diseases. Thus, separation of broad MM signals from low molecular weight metabolites enables accurate determin…

  DOI

• Terminology and concepts for the characterization of in vivo MR spectroscopy methods and MR spectra: Background and experts' consensus recommendations

  NMR in Biomedicine · 2020 · 135 citations

  With a 40-year history of use for in vivo studies, the terminology used to describe the methodology and results of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has grown substantially and is not consistent in many aspects. Given the platform offered by this special issue on advanced MRS methodology, the authors decided to describe many of the implicated terms, to pinpoint differences in their meanings and to suggest specific uses or definitions. This work covers terms used to describe all aspects of MR…

  DOI

• Spectral editing in ¹H magnetic resonance spectroscopy: Experts' consensus recommendations

  NMR in Biomedicine · 2020 · 124 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  H-MRS provides an effective means to measure low-concentration metabolite signals that cannot be reliably measured by conventional MRS techniques due to signal overlap, for example, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutathione and D-2-hydroxyglutarate. Spectral editing strategies utilize known J-coupling relationships within the metabolite of interest to discriminate their resonances from overlying signals. This consensus recommendation paper provides a brief overview of commonly used homonuclear editing te…

  DOI

• Mapping of exogenous choline uptake and metabolism in rat glioblastoma using deuterium metabolic imaging (DMI)

  Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience · 2023-04-28 · 32 citations

  articleOpen access

  Introduction There is a lack of robust metabolic imaging techniques that can be routinely applied to characterize lesions in patients with brain tumors. Here we explore in an animal model of glioblastoma the feasibility to detect uptake and metabolism of deuterated choline and describe the tumor-to-brain image contrast. Methods RG2 cells were incubated with choline and the level of intracellular choline and its metabolites measured in cell extracts using high resolution 1 H NMR. In rats with ort…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Development of a 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy technique to quantify NADH and NAD+ at 3 T

  Nature Communications · 2024-10-24 · 11 citations

  articleOpen access

  NADH and NAD+ act as electron donors and acceptors and NAD+ was shown to stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis and metabolic health. We here develop a non-invasive Phosphorous Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (31P-MRS) method to quantify these metabolites in human skeletal muscle on a clinical 3 T MRI scanner. This new MR-sequence enables NADH and NAD+ quantification by suppressing α-ATP signal, normally overlapping with NADH and NAD+. The sequence is based on a double spin echo in combination with…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R21CA118503

  NIH · $327k · 2008

• Robust and highly selective proton MRSI on a clinical 3 T system using a second order gradient insert, for application in schizophrenia

  NIH · $461k · 2023–2026

• NIH Grant R33CA118503

  NIH · $614k · 2010

Frequent coauthors

• Douglas L. Rothman

  Resonance Research (United States)

  184 shared

• Kevin L. Behar

  Yale University

  142 shared

• Henk M. De Feyter

  Yale University

  131 shared

• Graeme F. Mason

  Yale University

  74 shared

• Terence W. Nixon

  Resonance Research (United States)

  73 shared

• Peter B. Brown

  Rhode Island College

  63 shared

• Scott McIntyre

  Resonance Research (United States)

  54 shared

• Christoph Juchem

  46 shared

Similar researchers at Yale University

• Nicholas Christakish-110
• D.S. Fahmeed Hyderh-85