Mackay, Alex

Nuclear magnetic resonance is a powerful technique for investigation of structure and dynamics on an incredibly broad scale from the atomic to the macroscopic level. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which has become an important diagnostic technique in medicine, provides excellent soft tissue contrast between different normal tissues and between normal and pathological tissues. Before the full potential of MRI and MRS in medicine can be realized, fundamental research is required to understand the physics behind the NMR signal from tissue. Our research has focused on the development of quantitative interpretations of biomedical NMR results in terms of structure, dynamics and composition at the molecular and cellular levels.