Interview for Faculty Position

Low-field NMR in reduced geometries, with applications to biomedicine and chemistry

Louis Bouchard

University of California, Berkeley

There are strong incentives for developing universal NMR and MRI sensors operating in low magnetic fields, including reduced cost, smaller sizes, portability, increased T1 contrast and imaging through metallic objects. I shall present novel theory, instrumentation and methodologies for MRI in zero to very low magnetic fields, with particular attention to the presence of strong gradient quadrupole fields and inhomogeneous fields. I will also discuss the development of novel nanoparticle contrast agents for molecular and cellular imaging as well as novel approaches to gas-phase imaging using parahydrogen, with applications to microfluidic heterogeneous catalysis and the study of chemical reactions.