BG 10 RM B1D726
10 CENTER DR
BETHESDA MD 20892-1065
Dr. de Zwart received his M.S. in Molecular Sciences from Wageningen University in the Netherlands in 1995, as part of which he completed a 6-month internship at the In Vivo NMR Research Center, NCRR, NIH.
He obtained a Ph.D. from Université de Bordeaux II in France in early 2000, where he worked on de development of non-invasive temperature imaging using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for the monitoring and control hyperthermia treatment using focused ultrasound in Dr. Chrit Moonen's laboratory. A second Ph.D. degree was awarded by Utrecht University in the Netherlands for the same work in May of that same year. Dr. de Zwart came back to the NIH in August of 2000 for a Postdoctoral Position in Dr. Jeff Duyn's newly-formed Advanced MRI section in the Laboratory of Functional and Molecular Imaging in NINDS. His work focussed on the development of MR parallel imaging techniques applied to functional imaging of the human brain, work for which he and others were awarded an NIH Director's Award in 2007.
He transitioned to a Staff Scientist position in Dr. Duyn's group in 2003. Dr. de Zwart is involved in several research projects in the laboratory, working on the development of RF transmit amplifiers for efficient parallel transmit MRI at high magnetic field, furthering the fundamental understanding of functional MRI (fMRI) contrast mechanisms and the noise sources that affect it, as well as combining fMRI with Electroencephalography (EEG), e.g. to study sleep in humans during overnight scans.
Dr. de Zwart has an interest in improving Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), with a focus on imaging of the human brain. He has worked on the development of both hardware and software to improve MRI instruments, with a specific interest in the measurement of human brain function with MRI, so-called fMRI. Generally, fMRI techniques measure neuronal activity of the brain indirectly, based on local changes in blood flow, volume and/or the concentration of paramagnetic deoxygenized hemoglobin. Dr. de Zwart worked on characterizing the observed fMRI response to stimulation, e.g. studying temporal characteristics of the fMRI response, as well as it's linearity. He has also worked on processing of the acquired data, for example to suppress physiological noise from these measurements.
Please refer to the Advanced MRI Section web site, for additional information about research interests of Dr. Duyn's section.