Sjaastad group: Advanced translational cardiac imaging

Sjaastad group

The aim of our group is to develop new advanced cardiac imaging tools, to exploit these and understand the remodelling process occurring in cardiac diseases, and search for new imaging biomarkers predicting adverse disease outcome.

During cardiac disease, the heart is exposed to various stress factors, such as hypertension, ischemia and infarction. This results in both structural and functional remodelling of the heart. However, the these processes are complex and result in a large variety of phenotypes. Additionally, available imaging techniques have limited capability to identify the details in structural and functional cardiac remodelling. Accordingly, robust imaging biomarkers of cardiac disease progression are lacking.

Over the last years we have explored the potential of tissue phased mapping, a MR technique, to offer high resolution functional imaging of the heart. This technique has the capability to advance cardiac imaging directly by offering new biomarkers of disease entities, but also to facilitate the development of new imaging techniques such as cardiac elastography. We are working to establish elastography as a 3D technique to identify myocardial stiffness, which primarily is a result of fibrosis. We are also using other techniques, such as T1 mapping and diffusion tensor imaging, to investigate myocardial structure. Additionally, we are using mathematical remodelling to integrate our imaging data to understand the underlying pathological processes, and identify new imaging biomarkers of cardiac syndroms, such as diastolic dysfunction.

Our group is translating new concepts and techniques from preclinical use to human imaging. We are running several clinical studies, investigating for instance biomarkers for early detection of fibrosis, 3D parameters of diastolic dysfunction, and effects of various diseases (such as kidney failure) on cardiac function.

The group leader is professor Ivar Sjaastad, which is a cardiologist. Group members have diverse academic background, such as clinical medicine, physics, mathematics, molecular biology and radiology. We are collaborating with leading national research groups in cardiology, radiology, nuclear medicine, cancer medicine, various clinical specialities, physics and mathematics. Also, our international collaborators are at the highest level, located at for instance the Mayo clinic, KU Leuven and University of Chicago.

Group Leader

Ivar Sjaastad

Group Leader & Professor & Senior Consultant

Group members

Bård Andre Bendiksen

Doctoral Research Fellow

Birgit Nomeland Witczak

Doctoral Research Fellow

Emil Espe

Postdoctoral fellow

Haelin Kim

Research Technician

Henriette Schermacher Marstein

Doctoral Research Fellow

Henrik Dukefoss

Doctoral Research Fellow

Ida Marie Hauge-Iversen

Doctoral Research Fellow

Kjersti Blom

Doctoral Research Fellow

Lili Zhang

Senior Engineer

Linn Espeland

Research Technician

Lisa Smith

Postdoctoral fellow

Markus Borge Harbo

Medical Research Curriculum Student

Mohammed Almashhadani

Medical Research Curriculum Student

Latest publications

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Tønnessen TC, Ueland T, Ahmed S, Attramadal H, Sjaastad I, Vinge LE (2023)
Inflammatory augmentation of the delayed type hypersensitivity arthritis mouse model
Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol
PubMed 36946742 DOI 10.1111/bcpt.13864
Berger SG, Witczak BN, Reiseter S, Schwartz T, Andersson H, Hetlevik SO, Berntsen KS, Sanner H, Lilleby V, Gunnarsson R, Molberg Ø, Sjaastad I, Stokke MK (2023)
Cardiac dysfunction in mixed connective tissue disease: a nationwide observational study
Rheumatol Int
PubMed 36933069 DOI 10.1007/s00296-023-05308-3
Skogestad J, Albert I, Hougen K, Lothe GB, Lunde M, Søvik Eken O, Veras I, Thi-Huynh NT, Børstad M, Marshall S, Shen X, Louch WE, Louise Robinson E, Cleveland JC, Ambardekar AV, Schwisow JA, Jonas E, Calejo AIC, Morth JP, Taskén K, Melleby AO, Lunde PK, Sjaastad I, Carlson CR, Aronsen JM (2023)
Disruption of Phosphodiesterase 3A Binding to SERCA2 Increases SERCA2 Activity and Reduces Mortality in Mice With Chronic Heart Failure
Circulation
PubMed 36876489 DOI 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.054168
Marstein HS, Witczak BN, Godang K, Schwartz T, Flatø B, Bollerslev J, Sjaastad I, Sanner H (2023)
Adipose tissue distribution is associated with cardio-metabolic alterations in adult patients with juvenile-onset dermatomyositis
Rheumatology (Oxford), 62 (SI2), SI196-SI204
PubMed 35575380 DOI 10.1093/rheumatology/keac293
Marstein HS, Witczak BN, Godang K, Olarescu NC, Schwartz T, Flatø B, Molberg Ø, Bollerslev J, Sjaastad I, Sanner H (2023)
Adipokine profile in long-term juvenile dermatomyositis, and associations with adipose tissue distribution and cardiac function: a cross-sectional study
RMD Open, 9 (1)
PubMed 36828644 DOI 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002815
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Group news

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IEMR project meeting

IEMR project meeting – 31. March 2023

20/03/2023
Seminars and conferences

IEMR – Project meeting,
professor Eike Nagel

07/03/2023
Core facilities

New core facility: Preclinical PET imaging

20/01/2023
New publications

Using MR elastography to measure the hearts stiffness

22/09/2022
General

Using powerful magnets to understand overloaded hearts

27/04/2022
Seminars and conferences

IEMR – Project meeting,
Karl Trygve Kalleberg

01/04/2022