Amy Howard

Combining diffusion MRI and microscopy to probe tissue microstructure

What can we learn from highly detailed microscopy images that can help us infer brain microstructure and connectivity in vivo? My research considers different ways in which we can combine complementary data from both microscopy and  MRI, to both validate and drive computational modelling of the brain tissue microstructure.

I am a methods developer working in neuroscience to develop imaging methods that interrogate the brains cellular makeup and link microscale cellular structures to macroscale whole-brain connectivity and function. I work at the intersection of MRI physics and neuroscientific analysis methods, where my research focuses on acquiring high-quality MRI and microscopy data, and building computational models to relate cellular features to MRI signals that can ultimately be acquired in vivo. I have a particular interest in developing integrative methods that combine MRI and microscopy for multi-scale, multi-modal imaging. Our data and tools are made open access. Please get in touch if you would like to use them in your own research. I also sometimes have openings for PhD students.

After completing a PhD (DPhil) and Postdoc at Oxford under the supervision of Profs Karla Miller & Saad Jbabdi, in 2024 I then moved to a Lecturer position at Imperial College London. I retain close collaboration with Oxford, where my research spans both the physics and analysis groups.

Interests include:

• In vivo & postmortem MRI
• The BigMac dataset, an open resource combining in vivo MRI, extensive postmortem MRI and microscopy
• Diffusion MRI connectivity & microstructure imaging
• Biophysical modelling & model validation
• Light microscopy: polarised light imaging & histological staining
• Quantitative analysis of histology (structure tensor analysis & cell segmentation)
• MRI-microscopy co-registration 
• Data fusion / joint analysis of MRI and microscopy (e.g. hybrid tractography)
• Open data