My research program is focused on the development of novel molecular probes for molecular imaging using magnetic resonance. Molecular imaging is a non-invasive tool for visualization of cellular function in living organisms. For magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cellular function is imaged by injecting a contrast agent into an organism that produces quantifiable changes in the image reflecting variations in metabolic function. These compounds may be designed to bind preferentially to a specific protein or be metabolized directly by cells so that the effects of their bio-distribution can be imaged using MRI.
EDUCATION
Postdoctoral Fellow - Atomic and Molecular Physics
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Western University, London, Ontario
Ph.D. Physics
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Western University, London, Ontario
M.Sc. Physics
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Western University, London, Ontario
Hons. B.Sc.
Department of Physics
University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Cancer Research, Biophysics
MAIT cells promote cancer progression and regulatory T cell accumulation in bladder tumor microenvironment Inbar A Habaz, Xuejin Ou, Nicole I Wang, Angela Schincaglia, Valeryia Shydlouskaya, et al. Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer, 2025 Background Mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells represent a unique population of innate-like T lymphocytes capable of detecting non-peptide antigens in the context of monomorphic antigen-presenting molecules. Due to their abundance in barrier tissues, reactivity to local inflammatory cues, and cytotoxic and regulatory functions, MAIT cells are poised to shape the dynamics of various tumor microenvironments. Growing evidence suggests that MAIT cells can exert protumor and/or antitumor effects in cancers arising from or metastasizing to mucosal tissues. However, MAIT cell roles in bladder cancer (BCa) remains unclear. Methods To begin to identify MAIT cells in BCa, we stained bladder tumor biopsies for T cell receptor (TCR) Vα7.2+ cells. We then refined a human MAIT cell signature, which enabled us to interrogate a bulk RNA sequencing dataset and conduct correlation analyses linking intratumoral MAIT cell abundance and mortality from BCa. To extend our work to an in vivo setting, we employed a clinically relevant mouse model in which Mr1 +/+ B6-MAITCAST (MAIT-sufficient) and Mr1 −/− B6-MAITCAST (MAIT-deficient) mice were exposed to N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine, a chemical carcinogen associated with tobacco smoke. In additional experiments, MAIT cells were functionally removed through acetyl-6-formylpterin (Ac-6-FP) administration. Effector and regulatory cell types were phenotyped by flow cytometry, and BCa tumor burden and progression were assessed by MRI and/or H&E and Ki67 staining. Results TCR Vα7.2+ cells were readily detectable in several BCa biopsies, and our bioinformatic analyses correlated heavier MAIT cell presence in BCa tumors with poorer overall survival. Similarly, we found higher tumor burdens in Mr1+/+ B6-MAITCAST mice than in Mr1−/− or Ac-6-FP-treated animals. Bladder MAIT cells from tumor-bearing mice exhibited phenotypic MAIT17 bias based on transcription factors they harbored along with increased interleukin-17A and tumor necrosis factor-α production capacities upon stimulation. Finally, FoxP3+ regulatory T (Treg) cell frequencies were elevated in Mr1+/+ mouse bladder tumors, likely contributing to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, a finding that could be recapitulated in our transcriptomic studies on human BCa. Conclusions MAIT cells are abundant in BCa tumor microenvironments where they potentiate Treg cell accumulation and play protumor roles.
Single-Frequency Birdcage Coils for Deep Tissue Perfluorocarbon Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Mice Sean W. McRae, Francisco M. Martinez, Paula J. Foster, John A. Ronald, Timothy J. Scholl NMR in Biomedicine, 2025 Fluorine‐19 (19F) MRI has become an established tool for in vivo cell tracking following ex vivo or in vivo labelling of various cell types with 19F perfluorocarbons (PFCs). Here, we developed and evaluated novel mouse‐specific radiofrequency (RF) hardware for improved dual 1H anatomical imaging and deep tissue 19F MR detection of PFCs. Three linearly polarized birdcage RF coils were constructed—a dual‐frequency 1H/19F coil, and a pair of single‐frequency 1H and 19F coils, designed to be used sequentially. RF coil quality factors (Q values), signal homogeneity and sensitivity were benchmarked against a commercially constructed dual‐frequency 1H/19F surface coil. RF homogeneity was assessed using a phantom designed to mimic PFC localization at depth in a mouse. The single‐frequency birdcage coils (1H and 19F) displayed more uniform coverage and enhanced signal‐to‐noise ratios (SNRs) compared to both the birdcage and surface dual‐frequency coils for 19F detection. Bilateral injection of a perfluoropolyether nanoemulsion into the footpads of female athymic nude mice, resulting in drainage to various lymph nodes and subsequent accumulation in lymph node macrophages, provided a platform to assess differences in SNRs and contrast‐to‐noise ratios (CNR) between both coil configurations as a function of depth and location. The single‐frequency 1H coil provided significantly increased CNR in anatomical images (p < 0.001) with increased anatomical coverage compared to the dual‐frequency surface coil. The single‐frequency 19F birdcage coil offered increased PFC detectability with significantly higher SNR in renal, lumbar, sciatic and popliteal lymph nodes (p < 0.01) compared to the dual‐frequency surface coil. Interestingly, the percentage difference between SNR measurements in lymph nodes between the single‐frequency 19F coil and the 1H/19F surface coil had a linear relationship with increasing distance from the surface coil (R2 = 0.6352; p < 0.0001), indicating a potential disagreement for imaging experiments that rely on 19F spin quantification at increasing depth within the mouse using surface RF coils.
Imaging CAR-NK cells targeted to HER2 ovarian cancer with human sodium-iodide symporter-based positron emission tomography Nourhan Shalaby, Ying Xia, John J Kelly, Rafael Sanchez-Pupo, Francisco Martinez, et al. European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, 2024 Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) cell therapies utilize CARs to redirect immune cells towards cancer cells expressing specific antigens like human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Despite their potential, CAR T cell therapies exhibit variable response rates and adverse effects in some patients. Non-invasive molecular imaging can aid in predicting patient outcomes by tracking infused cells post-administration. CAR-T cells are typically autologous, increasing manufacturing complexity and costs. An alternative approach involves developing CAR natural killer (CAR-NK) cells as an off-the-shelf allogeneic product. In this study, we engineered HER2-targeted CAR-NK cells co-expressing the positron emission tomography (PET) reporter gene human sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) and assessed their therapeutic efficacy and PET imaging capability in a HER2 ovarian cancer mouse model.NK-92 cells were genetically modified to express a HER2-targeted CAR, the bioluminescence imaging reporter Antares, and NIS. HER2-expressing ovarian cancer cells were engineered to express the bioluminescence reporter Firefly luciferase (Fluc). Co-culture experiments demonstrated significantly enhanced cytotoxicity of CAR-NK cells compared to naive NK cells. In vivo studies involving mice with Fluc-expressing tumors revealed that those treated with CAR-NK cells exhibited reduced tumor burden and prolonged survival compared to controls. Longitudinal bioluminescence imaging demonstrated stable signals from CAR-NK cells over time. PET imaging using the NIS-targeted tracer 18F-tetrafluoroborate ([18F]TFB) showed significantly higher PET signals in mice treated with NIS-expressing CAR-NK cells.Overall, our study showcases the therapeutic potential of HER2-targeted CAR-NK cells in an aggressive ovarian cancer model and underscores the feasibility of using human-derived PET reporter gene imaging to monitor these cells non-invasively in patients.
Intracellular Acidification in a Rat C6 Glioma Model following Cariporide Injection Investigated by CEST-MRI Maryam Mozaffari, Nivin N. Nyström, Alex Li, Miranda Bellyou, Timothy J. Scholl, et al. Metabolites, 2023 Acidification of cancerous tissue induced pharmacologically may slow tumor growth and can be detected using magnetic resonance imaging. Numerous studies have shown that pharmacologically inhibiting specific transporters, such as the Na+/H+ exchanger 1 (NHE1), can alter glycolitic metabolism and affect tumor acidosis. The sodium proton exchanger inhibitor Cariporide can acidify U87MG gliomas in mice. This study aimed to determine whether Cariporide could acidify C6 glioma tumors in rats with an intact immune system. C6 glioma cells were implanted in the right brain hemisphere of ten rats. Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI (9.4T) was acquired on days 7–8 and 14–15 after implantation to measure in vivo tissue intracellular pH (pHi) within the tumors and on the contralateral side. pHi was basic relative to contralateral tissue at both time points assessed using the amine and amide concentration-independent detection (AACID) value. On day 14–15, measurements were made before and up to 160 min after Cariporide injection (N = 6). Twenty minutes after drug injection, the average AACID value in the tumor significantly increased by ∼6.4% compared to pre-injection, corresponding to 0.31 ± 0.20 lower pHi, while in contralateral tissue, AACID value increased significantly by ∼4.3% compared to pre-injection, corresponding to 0.22 ± 0.19 lower pHi. Control rats without tumors showed no changes following injection of Cariporide dissolved in 10% or 1% DMSO and diluted in PBS. This study demonstrates the sensitivity of CEST-based pH-weighted imaging for monitoring the response of tumors to pharmacologically induced acidification.
Development of a Suite of Gadolinium-Free OATP1-Targeted Paramagnetic Probes for Liver MRI Sean W. McRae, Michael Cleary, Daniel DeRoche, Francisco M. Martinez, Ying Xia, et al. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2023 Five amphiphilic, anionic Mn(II) complexes were synthesized as contrast agents targeted to organic anion transporting polypeptide transporters (OATP) for liver magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The Mn(II) complexes are synthesized in three steps, each from the commercially available trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (CDTA) chelator, with T1-relaxivity of complexes ranging between 2.3 and 3.0 mM-1 s-1 in phosphate buffered saline at an applied field strength of 3.0 T. Pharmacokinetics were assessed in female BALB/c mice by acquiring T1-weighted images dynamically for 70 min after agent administration and determining contrast enhancement and washout in various organs. Uptake of Mn(II) complexes in human OATPs was investigated through in vitro assays using MDA-MB-231 cells engineered to express either OATP1B1 or OATP1B3 isoforms. Our study introduces a new class of Mn-based OATP-targeted contrast that can be broadly tuned via simple synthetic protocols.
Visualizing cell-cell communication using synthetic notch activated MRI TianDuo Wang, Yuanxin Chen, Nivin N. Nystrom, Shirley Liu, Yanghao Fu, et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2023 Cell–cell communication plays a fundamental role in multicellular organisms. Cell-based cancer immunotherapies rely on the ability of innate or engineered receptors on immune cells to engage specific antigens on cancer cells to induce tumor kill. To improve the development and translation of these therapies, imaging tools capable of noninvasively and spatiotemporally visualizing immune-cancer cell interactions would be highly valuable. Using the synthetic Notch (SynNotch) system, we engineered T cells that upon interaction with a chosen antigen (CD19) on neighboring cancer cells induce the expression of optical reporter genes and the human-derived, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reporter gene organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B3 (OATP1B3). Administration of engineered T cells induced the antigen-dependent expression of all our reporter genes in mice bearing CD19-positive tumors but not CD19-negative tumors. Notably, due to the high spatial resolution and tomographic nature of MRI, contrast-enhanced foci within CD19-positive tumors representing OATP1B3-expressing T cells were clearly visible and their distribution was readily mapped. We then extended this technology onto human natural killer-92 (NK-92) cells, observing similar CD19-dependent reporter activity in tumor-bearing mice. Furthermore, we show that when delivered intravenously, engineered NK-92 cells can be detected via bioluminescence imaging in a systemic cancer model. With continued work, this highly modular imaging strategy could aid in the monitoring of cell therapies in patients and, beyond this, augment our understanding of how different cell populations interact within the body during normal physiology or disease.
MAIT cells promote cancer progression and regulatory T cell accumulation in bladder tumor microenvironment IA Habaz, X Ou, NI Wang, A Schincaglia, V Shydlouskaya, A Mahendran, ... Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer 13 (9), e012496 , 2025 2025 Citations: 6
Evaluation of Machine Learning Reconstruction Techniques for Accelerated Brain MRI Scans JI Mandel, S Hiremath, H Keshtgar, T Scholl, S Raeisi arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.07193 , 2025 2025
The SRG rat as a novel host for an orthotopic patient-derived xenograft model of breast cancer brain metastasis N Fulcher, H Nguyen, A Deweyert, M Uzelac, M Mozaffari, Q Zhang, ... Scientific Reports 15 (1), 20932 , 2025 2025 Citations: 1
Cluster-based redox-responsive super-atomic MRI contrast agents AA Kitos, R Castañeda, ZJ Comeau, N Mavragani, ND Calvert, A Kirby, ... Chem 11 (3) , 2025 2025 Citations: 7
Single‐Frequency Birdcage Coils for Deep Tissue Perfluorocarbon Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Mice SW McRae, FM Martinez, PJ Foster, JA Ronald, TJ Scholl NMR in Biomedicine 38 (1), e5296 , 2025 2025 Citations: 1
Different sodium concentrations of noncancerous and cancerous prostate tissue seen on MRI using an external coil JL Tan, V Kalia, SE Pautler, G Bauman, LV Gast, M Müller, AM Nagel, ... Radiology advances 1 (3), umae023 , 2024 2024 Citations: 4
Imaging CAR-NK cells targeted to HER2 ovarian cancer with human sodium-iodide symporter-based positron emission tomography N Shalaby, Y Xia, JJ Kelly, R Sanchez-Pupo, F Martinez, MS Fox, ... European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging 51 (11), 3176-3190 , 2024 2024 Citations: 13
88 Sodium Concentration Measurements in Prostate Cancer and Normal Tissue Using an External Sodium MRI Butterfly Coil J Tan, V Kalia, J Thiessen, T Scholl, A Akbari Radiotherapy and Oncology 186, S41-S42 , 2023 2023
Intracellular acidification in a rat C6 glioma model following cariporide injection investigated by CEST-MRI M Mozaffari, NN Nyström, A Li, M Bellyou, TJ Scholl, R Bartha Metabolites 13 (7), 823 , 2023 2023 Citations: 4
Development of a suite of gadolinium-free OATP1-targeted paramagnetic probes for liver MRI SW McRae, M Cleary, D DeRoche, FM Martinez, Y Xia, P Caravan, ... Journal of medicinal chemistry 66 (10), 6567-6576 , 2023 2023 Citations: 24
Development of Minicircle-Based Non-Viral Delivery of Cytosine Base Editors MM Evans, S Liu, TJ Scholl, JA Ronald MOLECULAR THERAPY 31 (4), 264-264 , 2023 2023
Development of a Highly Efficient Modular and Multiplexed CRISPR Editing System for Multimodal Tracking of CAR-T Cells JJ Kelly, RE Sanchez-Pupo, N Shalaby, Y Xia, FM Martinez, SW Mcrae, ... MOLECULAR THERAPY 31 (4), 707-708 , 2023 2023
Glucose infusion induced change in intracellular pH and its relationship with tumor glycolysis in a C6 rat model of glioblastoma Q Qi, MS Fox, H Lim, R Sullivan, A Li, M Bellyou, L Desjardins, ... Molecular Imaging and Biology 25 (2), 271-282 , 2023 2023 Citations: 9
Visualizing cell–cell communication using synthetic notch activated MRI TD Wang, Y Chen, NN Nystrom, S Liu, Y Fu, FM Martinez, TJ Scholl, ... Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120 (11), e2216901120 , 2023 2023 Citations: 22
A genetically encoded magnetic resonance imaging reporter enables sensitive detection and tracking of spontaneous metastases in deep tissues NN Nyström, SW McRae, FM Martinez, JJ Kelly, TJ Scholl, JA Ronald Cancer Research 83 (5), 673-685 , 2023 2023 Citations: 18
Effects of pediatric chronic kidney disease and its etiology on tissue sodium concentration: a pilot study FR Salerno, A Akbari, S Lemoine, TJ Scholl, CW McIntyre, G Filler Pediatric Nephrology 38 (2), 499-507 , 2023 2023 Citations: 14
Intracellular Acidification in a Rat C6 Glioma Model Following Cariporide Injection Monitored by Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer Magnetic Resonance Imaging M Mozaffari, NN Nyström, A Li, M Bellyou, TJ Scholl, R Bartha 2023
Complementary early-phase magnetic particle imaging and late-phase positron emission tomography reporter imaging of mesenchymal stem cells in vivo N Shalaby, JJ Kelly, OC Sehl, JJ Gevaert, MS Fox, Q Qi, PJ Foster, ... Nanoscale 15 (7), 3408-3418 , 2023 2023 Citations: 16
Intracellular Acidification Monitored by Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI: Effect of Cariporide in Rat C6 Brain Tumor M Mozaffari, N Nystrom, A Li, M Bellyou, T Scholl, R Bartha Medical Physics 49 (8), 5674-5674 , 2022 2022
Gadolinium-free magnetic resonance imaging of the liver via an Oatp1-targeted manganese (III) porphyrin NN Nystrom, H Liu, FM Martinez, X Zhang, TJ Scholl, JA Ronald Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 65 (14), 9846-9857 , 2022 2022 Citations: 26
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Design of field-cycled magnetic resonance systems for small animal imaging KM Gilbert, WB Handler, TJ Scholl, JW Odegaard, BA Chronik Physics in Medicine & Biology 51 (11), 2825-2841 , 2006 2006 Citations: 94
Field dependence of T 1 for hyperpolarized [1‐ 13 C]pyruvate N Chattergoon, F Martínez‐Santiesteban, WB Handler, ... Contrast media & molecular imaging 8 (1), 57-62 , 2013 2013 Citations: 86
Complementary Strategies for Developing Gd-Free High-Field T 1 MRI Contrast Agents Based on Mn III Porphyrins W Cheng, IE Haedicke, J Nofiele, F Martinez, K Beera, TJ Scholl, ... Journal of medicinal chemistry 57 (2), 516-520 , 2014 2014 Citations: 81
Delta relaxation enhanced MR: Improving activation‐specificity of molecular probes through R 1 dispersion imaging JK Alford, BK Rutt, TJ Scholl, WB Handler, BA Chronik Magnetic Resonance in Medicine: An Official Journal of the International … , 2009 2009 Citations: 75
Aerobic glycolysis is required for spatial memory acquisition but not memory retrieval in mice RA Harris, A Lone, H Lim, F Martinez, AK Frame, TJ Scholl, RC Cumming Eneuro 6 (1) , 2019 2019 Citations: 74
Tissue sodium concentrations in chronic kidney disease and dialysis patients by lower leg sodium-23 magnetic resonance imaging E Qirjazi, FR Salerno, A Akbari, L Hur, J Penny, T Scholl, CW McIntyre Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 36 (7), 1234-1243 , 2021 2021 Citations: 71
Precision measurement of relativistic and QED effects in heliumlike beryllium TJ Scholl, R Cameron, SD Rosner, L Zhang, RA Holt, CJ Sansonetti, ... Physical review letters 71 (14), 2188 , 1993 1993 Citations: 65
Polymer cross-linking: a nanogel approach to enhancing the relaxivity of MRI contrast agents A Soleimani, F Martínez, V Economopoulos, PJ Foster, TJ Scholl, ... Journal of Materials Chemistry B 1 (7), 1027-1034 , 2013 2013 Citations: 60
Measurements of hyperfine structure in Mn ii RA Holt, TJ Scholl, SD Rosner Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 306 (1), 107-111 , 1999 1999 Citations: 58
Detection of radiation‐induced lung injury using hyperpolarized 13 C magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging K Thind, A Chen, L Friesen‐Waldner, A Ouriadov, TJ Scholl, M Fox, ... Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 70 (3), 601-609 , 2013 2013 Citations: 57
Structure-guided directed evolution of highly selective p450-based magnetic resonance imaging sensors for dopamine and serotonin EM Brustad, VS Lelyveld, CD Snow, N Crook, ST Jung, FM Martinez, ... Journal of molecular biology 422 (2), 245-262 , 2012 2012 Citations: 57
An enzyme-activatable and cell-permeable Mn III-porphyrin as a highly efficient T 1 MRI contrast agent for cell labeling IE Haedicke, T Li, YLK Zhu, F Martinez, AM Hamilton, DH Murrell, ... Chemical Science 7 (7), 4308-4317 , 2016 2016 Citations: 46
Construction and evaluation of a switch‐tuned 13 C ‐ 1 H birdcage radiofrequency coil for imaging the metabolism of hyperpolarized 13 C‐enriched compounds H Lim, K Thind, FM Martinez‐Santiesteban, TJ Scholl Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 40 (5), 1082-1090 , 2014 2014 Citations: 43
Mapping metabolic changes associated with early radiation induced lung injury post conformal radiotherapy using hyperpolarized 13C-pyruvate magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging K Thind, MD Jensen, E Hegarty, AP Chen, H Lim, ... Radiotherapy and oncology 110 (2), 317-322 , 2014 2014 Citations: 43
RF coil loading measurements between 1 and 50 MHz to guide field‐cycled MRI system design KM Gilbert, TJ Scholl, BA Chronik Concepts in Magnetic Resonance Part B: Magnetic Resonance Engineering: An … , 2008 2008 Citations: 42
Oscillator strength measurements in Pr II with the fast-ion-beam laser-induced-fluorescence technique R Li, R Chatelain, RA Holt, SJ Rehse, SD Rosner, TJ Scholl Physica Scripta 76 (5), 577-592 , 2007 2007 Citations: 42
Optimisation of dynamic nuclear polarisation of [1-13C] pyruvate by addition of gadolinium-based contrast agents L Friesen-Waldner, A Chen, W Mander, TJ Scholl, CA McKenzie Journal of Magnetic Resonance 223, 85-89 , 2012 2012 Citations: 40
The discrepancy between human peripheral nerve chronaxie times as measured using magnetic and electric field stimuli: the relevance to MRI gradient coil safety BJ Recoskie, TJ Scholl, BA Chronik Physics in Medicine & Biology 54 (19), 5965-5979 , 2009 2009 Citations: 40
Binding of a dimeric manganese porphyrin to serum albumin: towards a gadolinium-free blood-pool T 1 MRI contrast agent W Cheng, T Ganesh, F Martinez, J Lam, H Yoon, RB Macgregor Jr, ... JBIC Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry 19 (2), 229-235 , 2014 2014 Citations: 39
Longitudinal visualization of viable cancer cell intratumoral distribution in mouse models using Oatp1a1-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging NN Nyström, AM Hamilton, W Xia, S Liu, TJ Scholl, JA Ronald Investigative radiology 54 (5), 302-311 , 2019 2019 Citations: 38