51cg

Biography

Dr Ross graduated from the University of St Andrews in 2009 with an MPhys(Hons) in Theoretical Physics. He then completed an MSc in Medical Physics at Aberdeen University in 2011 before completing a PhD in Medical Physics under the supervision of Professor David Lurie.

He joined Prof Lurie's team as a Research Assistant in 2015 on the EPSRC funded "Zero-Field MRI" project. He was appointed Research Fellow in 2016 on the EU Horizon-2020 funded "IDentIFY" project where he worked on developing Field-Cycling Imaging (FCI) techniques for biomedical and clinical applications.

He was appointed Lecturer in 2020 and started working with Professor Dana Dawson on the development of 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques for non-invasively probing cardiac energetics at 3T while continuing to lead pulse sequence development for the new 3rd generation FCI scanner commissioned in ARI in 2023/24.

Research Overview

Dr Ross’s research focuses on the development of novel MRI acquisition and analysis methods, with particular interests in pulse sequence development, quantitative imaging, low-field MRI and MR spectroscopy. His work aims to develop techniques that provide information about tissue structure, relaxation and metabolism that is difficult to access using conventional clinical MRI.

He is a member of the Field-Cycling Imaging (FCI) research group, where he leads the development of imaging sequences for quantitative measurement of in-vivo T1 dispersion while maintaining practical scan durations. His sequences have been used to achieve quantitative Field-Cycling Imaging in the brain, breast, knee and heart. More broadly, his work in this area explores the opportunities offered by low- and ultra-low-field MRI and the development of acquisition, reconstruction and analysis methods required to translate these techniques towards in-vivo applications.

Dr Ross also collaborates with the cardiology research team led by Professor Dana Dawson on the development and application of advanced cardiac MRI and spectroscopy methods. This includes the development of ¹H and ³¹P cardiac magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3T to investigate cardiac metabolism and energetics.

A further area of his research is the investigation of MR relaxation phenomena beyond conventional T1 and T2 contrast, particularly T1rho. T1rho provides a means of probing molecular interactions occurring at relatively low frequencies using conventional high-field MRI systems and may offer tissue contrast that is complementary to standard clinical imaging. Aberdeen provides a particularly unusual environment for this work, with access to both clinical 3T MRI and a research Field-Cycling Imaging scanner capable of operating at ultra-low magnetic fields. Together, these systems provide an opportunity to investigate MR relaxation behaviour across a very broad range of effective magnetic-field strengths and to explore the relationship between low-field relaxation, T1 dispersion and high-field T1rho measurements.

Current Research

I am currently working on the development of phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS) techniques in the heart at 3T. Unlike conventional 1H techniques, 31P MRS allows the direct detection of metabolites involved in energy metabolism (for example PCr and ATP) which could make it a valuable tool in characterising conditions where there is impaired cardiac function.

Owing to the comparatively lower concentrations of phosphorus in-vivo, the lower gyromagnetic ratio and the added complications of respiratory and cardiac motion, cardiac 31P-MRS is a particuarly challenging technique which requires particular care in the choice of pulse sequence and acquisition parameters.

Knowledge Exchange

I reguarly take part in public engagement events aimed at explaining concepts in medical physics and electromagnetism to the wider community. Some past events include:

2023: Cafe Scientifique; as part of the British and Irish Chapter of ISMRM meeting hosted by Aberdeen in 2023, I and Mathieu Sarracanie led a Cafe Scientifique which celebrated the history of MRI development at Aberdeen and discussed how we are building on that legacy with our current research developing low field and field-cycling MRI.

2019: Cell Block Science - an initiative started by St Andrews University aimed at educating inmates at prisons on ongoing research at local universities. In this event Prof David Lurie and I spent the day at HMP Grampian where we talked about the history of magnetic resonance imaging development at Aberdeen and demonstrated some of the fundamental physics that makes MRI possible.

2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023: is an event where usually closed buildings in Aberdeen are open to the public. This gives us an opportunity to show off what goes on in our labs at Aberdeen University. For the past few years I have given tours of the FCI labs to the public and hosted stalls in the IMS to talk about my research.

2019: I presented our work on FCI at the Scottish Parliament as part of the European Researcher's Night "Explorathon" event.

2018: I gave a public lecture on the history of MRI for MENSA Scotland.

Funding and Grants

BHF Programme Grant: Immunity and thrombo-inflammation in acute takotsubo cardiomyopathy; D Dawson (PI) , J Ross, M Morgan, H Wilson, M Kallikourdis, D Newby, Collie-Duguid E, Ryan N, Tuong K, Mutch N, £1.7M

British Heart Foundation: Rebalancing the fat content of the heart and muscle in Type 2 Diabetes; J Ross, M Delibegovic, J Griffin, F Thies, D Dawson (PI); 2025-2028, £570k

Chief Scientist Office: Proving the Utility of Fast Field Cycling MRI in Small Vessel Disease - a focus on Brain Health; G Waiter et al; 2025-2027, £330k

Tenovus Scotland: Myocardial Lipid Compartments in Type 2 Diabetes; AM Ciutac, J Ross, A Davidson, D Dawson, 2024-2025, £12k

Versus Arthritis: PrIOritising early detection of KNEE osteoaRthritis – PIOKNEER; De Bari et al: £1.3M

British Heart Foundation: The Next Leap in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Cycling the Field; D Dawson, D Lurie, L Broche, J Ross, H Abbas: , 2020-2023, £278k

SINAPSE Innovation Partnership: Towards a Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Protocol for Fast Field-Cycling MRI; J Ross, D Dawson, D Lurie, A Mezincescu: 2020-2021, £10k

Northwood Trust PhD Scholarship: Detecting Cardiac Fibrosis using T₁ rho Magnetic Resonance Imaging; J Ross, D Dawson: 2022-2026, £70k

Teaching Responsibilities

I am the course coordinator for BP5910: MRI and Ultrasound, and I teach MRI physics to students on the M.Sc programmes in Medical Physics and Medical Imaging. My teaching covers the physical principles of MRI, including signal generation, spatial encoding, image contrast, pulse sequences and advanced imaging techniques. I also supervise undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation projects in MRI and related areas of medical imaging.