Niki Zacharias Millward

Boswell Fellow Seeks Catalyst to Produce Hydrogenation Reaction for PHIP

Niki Zacharias Millward, Ph.D. joined HMRI’s Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Lab in 2009 as a Boswell Fellow and is working with Drs. Pratip Bhattacharya and Brian Ross on the Para-Hydrogen Induced Polarization (PHIP) project.

The PHIP method involves activated hydrogen molecules that are transferred to organic compounds containing either double or triple carbon bonds in a hydrogenation reaction. After the reaction, the compounds are considered to be hyperpolarized and have significant signal enhancement in MR technologies (10,000 fold increase). The hydrogenation reaction requires the use of a catalyst for the reaction to occur. Dr. Millward synthesizes new hydrogenation catalysts and new unsaturated organic compounds to be used in the PHIP project. Hopefully, the research will increase the number of precursors for PHIP significantly and greatly accelerate the development of the technology, which is currently not in clinical use. The goal is to synthesize easily detectable hyperpolarized compounds that will bind to amyloid plaques in the brain as an early detection mechanism for Alzheimer’s disease. In Alzheimer’s disease, neurodegeneration is estimated to start 20 to 30 years prior to manifestation of clinical symptoms. Early detection, prior to clinical symptoms, could be key in maintaining the disease at a low progression rate and reducing the affects of cognitive impairment over time. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting more than 20 million patients worldwide.

Dr. Millward has an extensive background in chemistry and biochemistry. She was a postdoctoral scholar for Professor Richard Roberts at University of Southern California and a consultant for two biotech companies Neurion Pharmaceuticals and Encode Bio in Pasadena.  She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from Caltech under the guidance of Professors Dennis Dougherty and Henry Lester and is very interested in using organic chemistry to solve problems in medicine.