I study brain structure and function with the goal of improving medical treatments for people with neurological disorders. My thesis research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of altered brain iron levels in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Current sub-projects include 1) studying the effects of chronic inflammatory activity (i.e. iron rim lesions) on MS progression, 2) investigating the link between acute inflammatory activity, disrupted white matter connectivity, and brain iron in pwMS, and 3) characterizing covarying patterns (i.e. “networks”) of brain iron in the deep gray matter which are affected by healthy aging and in pwMS.

Michael G. Dwyer III, PhD