Pratip Bhattacharya

Pratip Bhattacharya, PhD began his association with HMRI in July 2003 as a Boswell Fellow then joined HMRI as the director of the Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Laboratory in October, 2006. Pratip received his undergraduate degree (MSc) in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur, India. He completed his PhD dissertation on electron transfer through single DNA mismatches and mutations at Caltech in 2004 working with Prof. Jacqueline K. Barton.

As a Boswell Fellow, Pratip and his group developed the first in vivo PASADENA program.

PASADENA is an acronym for “Parahydrogen and Synthesis Allows Dramatically Enhanced Nuclear Alignment.” It belongs to a family of physical and chemical techniques called “hyperpolarization” that results in over 10,000 fold sensitivity enhancement over conventional

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This enhanced MR technology has the potential to detect very small concentrations of specific disease markers of several cancers and cardiovascular conditions in under one second and will permit whole-body scans of humans with existing or cheaper MRI scanners. These scans can be performed in tens of seconds which will reduce the

overall cost and time of medical imaging. An immediate benefit of this advanced technology would be the increased accessibility of routine screening MR examinations anywhere with a stable power supply. These examinations would enable early stage detection of disease which would allow more effective administration of therapy and better monitoring for efficacy of applied treatment.

Currently, Pratip and his group are applying these MR techniques to animal models in the laboratory, and work is in progress to transition them to clinics. In July 2010 his laboratory installed the first in vivo Silicon Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) system in collaboration with Prof. Charles Marcus of Harvard University. Silicon DNP is the newest addition to the family of hyperpolarization techniques where silicon nanoparticles may enable real time biomedical imaging with potentially more specificity and higher resolution. Silicon nanoparticles are non-toxic, and some form of it is commercially consumed in smoothies. The research on hyperpolarization has led to several peer reviewed publications, patents and invited talks at international conferences.

When not in the laboratory, Pratip enjoys hiking, climbing and landscape and wildlife photography. His climbing and hiking interests have taken him to places as varied as Yosemite, Greenland, Alaska, New Zealand, Patagonia, Himalayas, Kamchatka and the Amazon.