Andrea Kassner

Dr. Kassner is Professor of Medical Imaging at the University of Toronto and Senior Scientist in the Translational Medicine program at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) where she’s also Co-Director of the Stroke Imaging Lab for Children (SILC). 

Dr. Kassner’s lab uses quantitative MRI to interrogate the complex interplay between the various physiological parameters that maintain brain function. In particular, her lab is interested in the haemodynamic, metabolic, and structural mechanisms of cerebrovascular diseases in children with sickle cell disease, stroke, cerebral angiopathies and sleep disorders. Dr. Kassner also investigates pre-clinical models of these diseases and investigates effective treatment strategies.

Her lab collaborates with researchers and clinicians from multiple disciplines such as neurology, radiology, physiology, biophysics, engineering, hematology and respirology.   

Research

Dr. Kassner’s lab uses quantitative MRI to interrogate the complex interplay between the various physiological parameters that maintain brain function. In particular, her lab is interested in the haemodynamic, metabolic, and structural mechanisms of cerebrovascular diseases in children with sickle cell disease, stroke, cerebral angiopathies, diabetes, and sleep disorders.

Dr. Kassner also investigates pre-clinical models of these diseases and investigates effective treatment strategies. Her lab collaborates with researchers and clinicians from multiple disciplines such as neurology, radiology, physiology, biophysics, engineering, hematology and respirology. 

Education and experience

• 1989: B.Sc. Biomedical Engineering (Honours), University of Applied Science, Aachen, Germany 
• 1993: M.Sc., Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom 
• 1997: PhD, Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom 
• 2008: Post-graduate Certificate, Nanobiotechnology, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany

1. Friedlander Y, Zanette B, Lindenmaier A, Sadanand S, Li D, Stirrat E, Couch M, Kassner A, Jankov RP, Santyr G. Chemical shift of 129 Xe dissolved in red blood cells: Application to a rat model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, Magn. Reson. Med. (e-pub ahead of print, December 2019)
   
2. Domi T, deVeber G, Mikulis D, Kassner A. Wallerian Degeneration of the Cerebral Peduncle and Association with Motor Outcome in Childhood Stroke, Pediatr Neurol. 102:67-73 (2020)
   
3. Cahill LS, Pilmeyer J, Yu LX, Steinman J, Hare GMT, Kassner A, Macgowan CK, Sled JG. Ultrasound Detection of Abnormal Cerebrovascular Morphology in a Mouse Model of Sickle Cell Disease Based on Wave Reflection, Ultrasound Med Biol. 45(12):3269-3278 (2019)
   
4. Kapustin D, Leung J, Odame I, Williams S, Shroff M, Kassner A. Hydroxycarbamide treatment in children with Sickle Cell Anaemia is associated with more intact white matter integrity: a quantitative MRI study, Br J Haematol. 187(2):228-245 (2019)
   
5. Croal PL, Leung J, Phillips CL, Serafin MG, Kassner A. Quantification of pathophysiological alterations in venous oxygen saturation: A comparison of global MR susceptometry techniques, Magn Reson Imaging. 58:18-23 (2019)