U.S. Rep Kathy Castor recently toured newly renovated space for USF Health鈥檚 first fMRI, a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine that will expand research grant opportunities for USF faculty and students.
Castor spearheaded efforts in early 2023 to earmark federal funds toward the USF purchase of the high-resolution fMRI and, in September 2023, under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded the Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending for Construction for $1 million. In June 2023, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the state budget, an additional $3 million in state funds was secured and the purchase and installation of the high-resolution fMRI at USF Health began.
During her Sept. 4, 2024, visit of the USF Health fMRI Research Core, Castor heard from USF and USF Health leadership about the successful installation of the machine and the many clinical research projects already scheduled to begin using the magnet over the coming weeks.
鈥淲e are here today to celebrate the future,鈥� USF President Rhea Law. 鈥淭hank you for being here today, for what you鈥檝e done and continue to do for us.鈥�
鈥淯SF Health is the premier health science and research center in Florida and one of the top in America,鈥� Castor said. 鈥淎bout a year ago President Rhea Law and Dr. Charly Lockwood and Dr. Cliff Gooch came to me and said, 鈥榃e want to take our research to the next level.鈥� You all may not be aware, but this is one of the leading neurology research centers in America. And thanks to their vision and their passion, they inspired me to submit a community funding request and I'm grateful that the Congress was able to pass an appropriations law that contained that very important community funding request for this is the type of fMRI that will help decode the mysteries of the brain. It's only appropriate that the top research university in our state has this equipment to take their research to the next level. I want to thank you all for your vision and your passion. This will should give everyone hope that we're on the cusp of finding those answers for unlocking those mysteries of the brain, the answers that can help improve lives and it's going to happen here at the 哔咔漫画.鈥�
A standard MRI machine creates static images; an fMRI measures ongoing activity in different parts of the brain during mental and physical tasks. The fMRI allows USF to develop a functional brain imaging core research facility, furthering research and clinical research studies in Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease, Parkinson鈥檚 Disease, schizophrenia, and many other serious brain diseases.
"We are so grateful to U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and our state legislators, who understand the importance of advancing medical research in Florida and pushed to get funding for our new fMRI,鈥� said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, executive vice president of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. 鈥淭he fMRI will be an invaluable tool for neuroscience researchers across USF 鈥� and it will help us recruit and retain scientists and increase NIH funding.鈥�
The high-resolution fMRI at USF Health establishes a functional brain imaging core research facility for the entire university, said Clifton Gooch, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Neurology and associate dean of Clinical Research at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, and vice president of Clinical and Translational Research at Tampa General Hospital.
鈥淭his fMRI is dedicated to research across the USF campus,鈥� Dr. Gooch said. 鈥淲e're very excited about the possibilities of fMRI and understanding disease processes like Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease or ALS or post-traumatic stress syndrome, schizophrenia, TBI; all of these things that really afflict our patients so severely. Not only will this enable us to understand how those various diseases are disrupting the internal workings of the brain at the functional level, but it also will enable us to measure the effects of drugs and therapeutics that we can use actually cure disease.鈥�
The fMRI is also a component of a new clinical trial launching next month that will measure the impact of hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT) in reducing the symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in military veterans.
A formal dedication of the USF Health fMRI Research Core Facility is being coupled with the dedication of the adjacent HBOT facility and is scheduled for Sept. 30.