Robert A. Kraft, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Dr. Robert Kraft was reared in Chester, New Jersey, a semi-rural town. In 1992 he received his Bachelor's Degree in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. He moved to Boston in 1993 to pursue is graduate degree in Nuclear Engineering with an emphasis on Radiological Sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1998, he accepted a position with General Electric Medical Systems, now General Electric Healthcare Technology, as an MRI Applications Engineer. In that role he was responsible for developing new MRI acquisition methods for their current generation of MRI scanners. In 2001, Dr. Kraft joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and is a member of the Advanced NeuroScience Imaging Research (ANSIR) Lab.

SYNOPSIS OF AREA OF INTEREST:: Dr. Kraft's current research interests are investigating different MRI data acquisition methods to improve the sensitivity and image quality of MRI molecular, perfusion and functional imaging.

DETAILED AREA OF INTEREST: Magnetic resonance imaging is a non-invasive imaging modality capable of obtaining structural, functional, and spectroscopic information. This versatility is obtained through the modification of MRI pulse sequences, which are computer programs that control how the MRI data is acquired. While Dr. Kraft's research focuses on MRI perfusion and functional imaging, he also has interest in MRI molecular imaging.

MRI molecular imaging uses exogenous paramagnetic contrast agents to bind to specific structures to enhance their visibility on the MRI images. Current research in collaboration with the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine is investigating whether these MRI contrast agents can be imbedded in tissue engineered scaffolds and the degradation of the scaffolds be monitored non-invasively with MRI.

PUBLICATIONS:

Maldjian J.A., Laurienti P.J., Burdette J.H., and Kraft R.A., An automated method for neuroanatomic and cytoarchitectonic atlas-based interrogation of fMRI data sets. Neuroimage 19(3):1233-1239.

Kraft R. A. and Hopkins J.A., Process and apparatus to remove stimulated echo artifacts caused by interactions of a preparation sequence with a gradient echo imaging sequence in MR imaging. September 2003, Patent Number: US 6,628,116 B1.

Laurienti P.J., Kraft R.A., Maldjian J.A., Burdette J.H., Wallace M.T., Semantic congruence is a critical factor in multisensory behavioral performance. Exp Brain Res 2004, 158(4):405-414.

Sullivan E.V., Sable H.J., Strother W.N., Friedman D.P., Davenport A., Tillman-Smith H., Kraft R.A., Wyatt C., Szeliga K.T., Buchheimer N.C., Daunais J.B., Adalsteinsson E., Pfefferbaum A., and Grant K.A., Neuroimaging of rodent and primate models of alcoholism: initial reports from the integrative neuroscience initiative on alcoholism. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 2005. 29(2):287-294.

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