Wei Chen, PhD, MS, BA

Dr. Wei Chen received his BS degree from Fudan University in 1981 and his PhD in 1990 from Washington University in St. Louis supervised by Professor Ackerman. He then worked as a postdoctoral and research associate in Professor Shulman's laboratory at Yale University. In 1994, he joined the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), Radiology Department at the University of Minnesota and became a full professor in 2002. His research focuses on developing brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) technologies at ultrahigh field. Dr. Chen’s laboratory pioneered several novel metabolic imaging techniques based on quantitative X-nuclear (31P, 17O and 2H) MRSI methods, which can image brain energy metabolism and metabolic reprogramming, neuroenergetics and neurophysiology in normal and diseased states. Dr. Chen is interested in applying the advanced 31P molecular MRSI technology developed in his laboratory to study the mitochondrial damage in the brains of Parkinson's disease patients.