Mission

HBIC provides an outstanding imaging capability that compliments the existing neuroscience community at KUMC and in the larger KU and Kansas City community. HBIC brings scientists from diverse disciplines such as Neurology, Neurosurgery, Radiology, Physiology, Psychiatry, Psychology, Engineering, Computing, Biochemistry, and Anatomy together in a highly collaborative and integrative environment.

The mission of the HBIC parallels the research, clinical, and education missions of the KUMC. The HBIC carries out investigator-initiated research activities sponsored by such agencies as the National Institutes of Health, other external/Federal funding agencies, and private funding entities including pharmaceutical and device companies. The Center also carries out contract research/clinical trials under contract to pharmaceutical and device companies.

The presence of the 3T MRI and the MEG systems within the Kansas City region provides unique opportunities to offer advanced scanning services to clinicians and patients in the area. These services are designed to enhance and complement existing radiological service. For example, both MRI and MEG are used for pre-surgical planning in patients with epilepsy or tumor diagnoses.

The HBIC also offers an excellent environment for education. Students at all levels, both in the clinical and basic sciences, are encouraged to enhance their educational experience by working with state-of-the-art equipment as well as with an outstanding Faculty in such diverse neuroimaging fields as MR spectroscopy, functional MRI (fMRI), diffusion tractography, and MEG. These opportunities will be further enhanced by the opportunity to design and carry out experiments in animal models using the 9.4T animal system.